A Ghastly Familiar Experience
by Benjamin568
Summary: Louise had hoped for something big and powerful to have become her familiar, but instead of a fire-breathing dragon or majestic griffin, she gets stuck with something even more so - the Child of Light and Shadow.
1. Possible Déjà vu?

**Hi all, if you're reading this then that obviously means you've decided to start reading my fanfiction, so thanks!**

 **There are a couple of things I'd like to clear up first though:**

 **1.) This story takes place after the Polaris arc but before Mirage.**

 **2.) Yes, this is a story based around my own OC. No, I don't plan to involve him with any of the Familiar of Zero characters romantically, unless the readers really want me to for some reason, and even if they do, it will NOT be romantically involved with Louise.**

 **3.)My OC is not meant to be a permanent replacement for Saito...I plan to involve him in the story sooner or later, but I'm still thinking up ideas on how to include him.**

 **4.) I'm far from perfect, and there are bound to be a few mistakes hidden away here and there. If you see any grammatical errors in the story, please let me know!**

 **5.) I do not have any predetermined schedule planned out, so I don't know how often I'll be updating this.**

 **I don't expect this to become very popular...very few Wizard101 fanfictions are, afterall, but I do plan on at least trying to finish it all up sooner or later. That being said, I would appreciate it if you could please leave a review and let me know if you have any comments or concerns. And without further delay, the first chapter:**

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It had been almost a year relative to Wizard City since I'd graduated from Ravenwood and moved on to the Arcanum. A lot has changed since then, and I'm still trying to get used to some of it. For starters, I don't have to worry about waking up very early in the morning to get to classes anymore(despite already being greatly ahead of my classmates). Although I've oftentimes been summoned to the Gravulum Order to help with certain missions or assignments, it was usually in the form of a request to help investigate something minor and thus was never really considered a "top priority", as it were. Still, it had been enough to keep me from dying of boredom, and I was usually treated to some kind of reward such as gold or crowns, so that was nice.

I had been trying to keep in touch with some of my old friends and acquaintances back at Wizard City, but it seems a lot of them have been really busy lately, especially ol' Merle. Not that I can really blame them, though, It's tough to run and attend a school as large and advanced as The Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. Although we at the Arcanum were all certain that the Old Cob (or Grandfather Spider as everyone else calls him) was planning something big, things had been really quiet lately since my battle with The Rat, so we'd been using our time brushing up on some old magic and reviewing some of the old legends about Grandfather Spider to try and have an idea on what his next move would be.

I'd just been called over to the Arcanum by the Myth Scholar, Baba Yaga, to help with an old incantation of some kind. I wasn't told the specifics, but all she really wanted me to do was gather some of the ingredients she needed to help with it. Some ingredients were easier to obtain than others, although I'd often find myself having to fight a thug or three in order to obtain them. The incantation was set to take place in Caliburn, Avalon. I was instructed to meet her there as soon as I got everything.

Coincidently, the spell was set to take place in the exact spot from which I'd originally summoned the Avenging Fossil. Upon arrival I'd noticed that Baba had placed a couple of magic symbols across the ground, some I'd recognised, some I didn't. She had also brought with her an old cauldron and wooden spoon for what I could only assume would be for mixing the ingredients together (I mean really, what else could it be for?).

"Good, you're here!" she exclaimed upon noticing me. "You gathered all the materials I needed, right?" she questioned.

"You should know me better by now," I stated. "I wouldn't have come here if I didn't have them."

"So, what exactly are we supposed to be doing here?" I pondered. "Questions, questions, always with the questions. Didn't anyone tell you that curiosity killed the cat?" she teased.

"I think it's best you not say that in front of Qismah," I answered. "Besides, you've already brought me this far, and it would be rude not to tell me now."

"Not _we_... _I_." she said. "You would just get in the way, now hand over the materials so that I can get started."

I pulled the ingredients out from my backpack and handed them to her. She eyed them closely. "Good. You _were_ telling the truth." she said. I couldn't help but feel offended by that, but I didn't say anything.

She took the materials I'd gathered and dropped them into the cauldron, then she poured water inside it and began to stir. "All you must know is that, with luck, it will do exactly as I hope it will."

Oh boy. If there was one word I hated more than anything, it was luck. I didn't believe in the darn thing, we make our own choices, and if something doesn't turn out the way you hoped, you have only yourself to blame.

"Fine," I said. "I'll have found out sooner or later anyway, so I might as well just sit quietly and watch what happens". After a couple minutes of stirring, the liquids in the cauldron had begun to change color, first from green, then to red, and finally to purple.

"Now for some Ancestor Dirt, and..." she started. "Viola! My dinner is complete."

"You made me collect all those rare liquids to help you make a pot of soup?" I asked rhetorically, unamused by the old witch's antics.

"Of course I didn't! That was meant to be a joke, don't you have any sense of humor?" she laughs. "No, what we're doing here is nothing like that. We'll be creating an elixir for increasing our magic power."

"Why bother? Don't those things already exist, and can't you get them at one of the crown shops?" I asked.

"Do you know of any crown shop elixirs which increase your resist by up to 20%?" she replied.

"No, but doesn't that seem a bit too convenient? Surely there's a catch, right?" I questioned.

"Well...there may be a few harmful side effects," she started. "But nothing major, just some stomach aches, nausea, and a _slight_ chance of...immediate death."

I sighed. Of course it would be too convenient, I'd assumed that as soon as I'd heard the word "resist", but I'd never even thought she'd be willing to put me at that great of a risk over something that she hasn't even used before.

"Oh, don't look so troubled by it!" she grumbled. "I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't have total confidence that you would survive."

"Maybe so, but you could at least have let me in on it sooner," I replied. I didn't have any reason to suspect that she was trying to poison me, but still, it's kind of unsettling that she wouldn't tell me all of that until sooner. "I mean, do you really have to be so discreet with me? Shouldn't I have earned your trust by now?"

"Well, of course you have!" she started. "It's just that...well, I didn't want you knowing about it until I was sure that it would work...yeah! That's it!" she laughed.

"A likely story. Whatever, just give it to me when you're finished, and I'll test it out with a Sacrifice spell."

"Now hold on a minute!" she interrupted. "This elixir is infamous for leaving a bitter taste in the mouth, and I don't want to hear any whining in case it doesn't work, so prepare yourself before tasting it."

"Whatever, just give it to me," I responded, handing her an empty potion bottle. She filled the bottle with some of the elixir and handed it to me, and you know what? She was right, It really DID leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

"Ugh, it tastes like cough syrup." I complained.

"Cough syrup? What's that supposed to be, some kind of fancy beverage they serve at Wizard City?"

"No," I responded. It's funny, I haven't been to Earth since Ambrose first summoned me who knows how long ago, and I still can't help but make a couple comparisons about it here and there. I wonder if I'll ever get back to my home planet? Well, it's not like it would matter even if I did. I wouldn't be able to see my family anyway, they'd be put in danger. Besides, what am I supposed to say to them after all this time? That I was summoned by a great and powerful wizard and went on to save the universe not once, not twice, but THREE different times? I suppose I _could_ show them my magic, that would make them believe me. That, or think I was some sort of demon taking the form of their son and brother grown older.

"Forget about it, let's just see if it works." I said, when all of a sudden a green portal appeared in front of us.

"Uh, was that supposed to happen?" I asked, looking at the portal.

"Of course it wasn't!" she responded. "This portal has nothing to do with the potion."

"Then what is it here for?" I asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" she replied. "It could be here for anything, or _anyone_."

I didn't like where this was going. This would mean the equivalent of hitching a ride in some stranger's car at the crack of midnight back on Earth. A couple of moments passed until one of us decided to say something, that someone being Baba Yaga herself. "Well, don't just stand there! Go inside and see what it's for!"

"It could lead to anywhere, are you sure about this?" I asked.

"It'll be fine!" she exclaimed. "Besides, if something comes up, we'll just have to summon you back here again."

I decided not to argue. I do this sort of thing all the time anyway, might as well see what's up. I walked up to the portal, sticking one hand in. After I determined it was safe to enter, I stepped through it entirely.

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 **So, what do you think? Have you fallen in love with my awesome story-telling skills yet?! Just kidding, this is my first time writing a story, but I hope you enjoyed it so far! Chapter 2 is coming up soon.**


	2. Possible Déjà vu? Part 2

**I have to say, I'm surprised at how many views this story has already received. I mean, 200+ views already, and with only one chapter? Sweet. Of course, I think we could do better than that with a little motivation. So, to help with that motivation...I've decided to kidnap all of your most favorite pets and hand them over to my good friend, Doctor Purreau!**

 **"Oh, don't worry, they'll be nice and comfortable here in my little lab of horrors you Wizards call 'the Hatchery'!"**

 **So, if you don't want all of your little Piggles, Dragons, and Unicorns to take part in some inhumane breeding program, you'll leave us with a review, positive or negative... or not, I guess that's fine too.**

 **Oh, and don't worry. I'm not going to beg for reviews before and after every chapter, I just really wanted to make that joke!**

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My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, and I am the third daughter of the Vallière family. I am currently attending my second year here at the Tristan Academy of Magic. Despite my attending such a prestigious school, not to mention my family's lineage, I've never been very gifted in the art of Magic. No matter what spell I try to cast, it always ends up with the same outcome, the spell will always just blow up in my face! I'm not very popular among the other students, and I don't have any friends to talk to from within the academy. Even so, I've always tried my very best to get better with my magic and I will continue to do so until I finally feel like I've reached the success I've been hoping for, to prove once and for all that I'm not a _Zero_ like they say.

Today I feel as though I've been given that chance to succeed, thanks to the annual Familiar Summoning Ritual for the second year students. I don't why this is, but I feel as though the familiar I am going to summon is going to be everything I hope for, divine, beautiful, powerful, almost like a - wait, is that a PEASANT?

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 **You thought this chapter would be in Louise's point of view, didn't you? Well, think again!**

* * *

After I had stepped through the portal, I was greeted with the ever-so-welcoming sight of falling several hundred feet, head-first and straight into the ground.

"Note to self... flip off Baba Yaga when I get back." I thought to myself _._

I was just about to equip my SwiftShadow Wings when all of a sudden I felt a huge pain on the back of my head. The ground just so happened to have been much closer than I had originally thought.

"Okay, wow, that's going to hurt in the morning - and everyday after." I said to no one in particular. After a few moments spent rubbing the back of my head, I decided to take note of my surroundings, and I was taken aback by what I saw.

I was in the center of a large group of kids, ages ranging from what I'd assumed would be ten through eighteen. They all looked to be in uniform, wearing black cloaks with a white garment underneath, their cloaks being held together by a bronze pin that had a carving of a star. There was only one adult noticeable in the group, who was half-bald, wearing a small pair of glasses, a navy-blue overcoat with white trim, holding a large staff in his right hand, and a beige book-bag over his left shoulder. I could only assume given the appearance of things that I was brought to a school of some sort.

The "students" had all greeted me with several confused stares, as well as a couple of soft whispers echoing throughout the courtyard. Guess I wasn't what _they_ were expecting either, then. I was just about to say something when I was interrupted by a small, pink-haired girl who was standing in front of me, who asked "What's your name, peasant?"

"Why do they always assume I'm a peasant?" I grumbled to myself, but before I could give a proper response, a tan, red-haired, large-breasted girl spoke up. "That's what you get for boasting the way you did. You summoned nothing more than a mere peasant!"

"I just made a small mistake, that's all!" the pink-haired girl protested.

"Louise the Zero has done it again! You never fail to meet expectations!" someone taunted, creating laughter among most of the other students, all except for one. I wasn't too sure about how to react, so I just kept quiet.

"SHUT UP!", the pink-haired girl, now dubbed Louise, shouted. "Mister Colbert, can I please try the spell again?!"

The teacher shook his head. "I can't allow that", he responded. "This summoning ritual is sacred and it affects a mage's entire life. Redoing it now would be considered blasphemy! Whether you like it or not, he is now your familiar and there is nothing that can change that."

"But Mister Colbert, I've never even heard of a peasant boy becoming a familiar!" she protested.

"My clothes cost more than this courtyard," I murmured.

"My answer is still 'no', Miss Vallière, so finish the ritual, or I will be forced to expel you from this academy."

Louise, now looking defeated, turns to me and raises her wand. "I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière," she starts, hesitantly moving her wand closer to me. I wasn't too sure about what would happen next, but I didn't sense anything that suggested any form of hostility towards me, so I decided to sit still and wait.

"Dear Pentagon that rules over the Five Powers, please offer this person your blessings, and make him my familiar."

She crouched on the grass and put her hand on my cheek, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. My eyes widened as I began to realize where this was going.

"Wait, are you about to -" but before I could finish my sentence, she briefly locked lips with me.

I sat still for a moment, trying to recollect everything that had happened up until this point. First, I walk into a mysterious green portal, next, I fall several hundred feet into the ground, and then, I get kissed by a girl I'd never met before. Was it Tuesday already?

"I guess it's a good thing you're not French, or Polarian." I said. I didn't know how else to react to the kiss, being my first one stolen and all, so I decided to try and joke it off. Sadly, it seemed nobody in the "audience" seemed to have shared in my sense of humor, which had stung my pride a bit.

"Very well, the ritual is now complete. The bond has been made."

"Wait, ritual?" I questioned. "I _guess_ that would explain the kiss, and most everything else that's happened up until this point. What's this all about?"

Before anybody could answer, my body began feeling summarily hot, so much so that it was to the point to where it was literally steaming (somehow), and I could feel something being burned onto my left hand. Looking over, I could see a group of runes being tattooed on it, followed by the symbol for Shadow magic. The adult chaperone seemed to have noticed the tattoo as well, because as soon as the steam began to fade, he looked at my hand with widened-eyes, whispering to himself "It can't be!"

"Great, now there are even more reasons for people to stop trusting me." I said to myself, recalling my last "encounter" with Grandmother Raven back in Polaris (although, in earnest, I still wasn't too sure if it was her or just an illusion). Before I could say anything else, I felt a sudden wave of dizziness pass over, and ended up falling unconscious.

I woke up to find myself lying on a pile of straw, inside where I had assumed to be one of the student dorms. As if to support my theory, I looked up to find the pink-haired girl from earlier, Louise, standing over me. She looked none too happy.

"So, you're finally awake," she started. "I'd thought about it long enough to pull my hair out, but I've given up. I'm just going to have to take you as my familiar, you should be honored."

"I might be if I had the slightest idea about anything that was going on, or what you were talking about." I responded bluntly.

"What's 'going on' is exactly what I said. I summoned you here, and now you're my familiar." she stated.

"Ugh, I can't believe I failed it like this," she grunts, slumping over. "Why did it have to be a peasant boy? I wanted something divine and beautiful, like a griffin, or dragon...But instead, I got _you_."

I swear, it's like she forgot I could understand her.

"You know, even if I am a peasant, and I'm not saying I am, at least I'm not rude to people I just met." I responded, flatly.

"And to top it all off, he even talks back!" she complained again, completely dismissing my complaint.

"Shouldn't we at least learn each other's names first? Or are you satisfied with just referring to your new B.F.F as 'a peasant boy'?" I mocked.

"I tried to ask you your name back at the ceremony, but that hot-head Kirche got in the way!" she whined.

"Oh, is that what her name is? Up until now I'd been calling her... _something else_." I half-joked, half-corrected myself.

"Well, anyway, my name's Benjamin. You can call me Ben if you want, or anything really, I don't mind so long as you don't call Benji." I told her. "So, what's _your_ name?"

"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière."

"Can I call you Louie Francine, for short?" I joked.

"Absolutely not!" she pouted, angrily.

"Relax, I'm just kidding," I assured her. "Alright then, Louise. Tell me more about this whole 'I'm your familiar' business."

* * *

Elsewhere, in the institution's library, Professor Colbert was searching through the restricted archives, trying to confirm the meaning of the human familiar's runes he saw from earlier. After flipping through several pages, and reading along many different paragraphs, he finally found the confirmation he desired. Alongside one of the pages, was an image detailing the exact same symbol that was found on Miss Vallière's familiar. It was the symbol for Void magic.

"That's the symbol! But how can that be?" he wonders to himself, aloud. "Just to be safe, I'm going to have to show this to the principal."

* * *

"So, if I caught all that, we're in the country of Tristain, on the continent of Halkegenia?" I asked her, waiting for assurance. She nodded. "And you're a second year student here at the Tristain Academy of Magic?" Once more, she nods.

"So, what exactly am _I_ here for again?" I asked again.

"I told you, you're my familiar. You're here to help me with my magic, among other things." she responded, impatiently.

"You know, usually when somebody goes to the trouble of summoning me, it's to help them save their world or something crazy like that, not to help them pass their mid-terms." I said. This whole trip had seemed like nothing more than a waste of time. I was just about to teleport away back to one of my houses, but something was preventing me for some reason.

"That's new." I said to myself.

"What is?" Louise questioned.

"Nothing, I just can't seem to teleport anywhere for some reason." I answered. Louise looked at me strangely. I guess they didn't know teleportation was possible without summoning spells. I sighed to myself as the reality of my capture here started to sink in.

"Well, looks like I'll be here a while. Might as well go surveying the land a little bit." Not waiting for permission, I left Louise's dorm and began exploring the place, hoping to get more of a general idea about what was going on.

After a couple of minutes walking alone, I ended up coming across one of the boys from earlier talking with a girl in the hallway. I didn't want to disturb them, so I'd gotten ready to move in the other direction, but then the boy caught notice of me, and called out to me.

"You there, peasant boy." he calls out.

"What?" I grimaced. I could tell just by the tone of his voice that he was going to be a handful.

"A peasant causing so much trouble, and not even a word of thanks?" he "asks".

"How presumptuous," I replied. "All you did for me was take me to some girl's room and set me down on a pile of straw. If you want my thanks, you could at least give me an actual bed or couch to sleep on."

I decided I'd had enough of him and moved on to another room. There, I'd come across another one of the students from earlier, this time being the girl who first spoke against Louise. I didn't want a repeat of what had just happened in the hallway, so I moved on, ignoring anything she might have said to me.

After stepping out of another door, I could feel myself being lifted up into the air against my will. I sighed to myself. Things over here were proving to be more annoying than in Pigswick. Looking down, I could see the guy I insulted from earlier, waving a rose around in a relaxed manner. Clearly, he didn't seem to appreciate any of my harsh words.

"Give it up," he taunted. "This is the second time I've kept you airborne."

"Is that so? Well, good for you then!" I yelled back, sarcastically.

After it was made clear that he had no intention of letting me go, I decided enough was enough, and equipped my SwiftShadow Wings (successfully this time), to help me gain control over my elevation. Once I regained control, and was out of his reach, I brought myself back down to ground-level, only to be met with several surprised stares from the boy, Louise, and the girl I walked in on in the hallway.

"What? Haven't you guys ever seen SwiftShadow Wings here before?" I asked them all, earning several silent head shakes.

"Well, in that case, it looks like we've not been properly introduced," I started, unequipping my mount. "My name is Benjamin, and I'm from another world different from this one."

* * *

 **There you have it, the second chapter. I'd like to give a special thanks to the person who sent me the review under the guise "Improvement Tip". I tried what you suggested, and I could immediately see the difference. I look forward to any future suggestions you may have for me. Chapter 3 should be coming up soon, but in the mean time, thanks for reading!**


	3. Brass vs Onyx

**Hello everyone! I'm very sorry for the long wait, just believe me when I say a _lot_ of stuff has come up which has prevented me from being able to update. If it were up to me, I would have posted an update at least a week after my last one. I don't plan on taking this long between every chapter, not on purpose anyway... but, it's because of situations like this that I had decided not to create any pre-existing schedules for the story, I didn't want anyone thinking I'd given up on it simply because I've been inactive or missed a "deadline". I plan to finish this story regardless of how long it takes, but in the event that I am completely unable to, or have a change of heart, I will put up a notice that will state that it's either been abandoned or put on hiatus, I won't just leave you guys in the dark forever.**

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With great displeasure, I'd decided to try and settle in and sleep in the pile of straw that the school had so graciously laid out for me. It wasn't all that bad, I've had to sleep in harsher environments, but the lack of courtesy and overall rudeness that was displayed (despite the obvious fact that they could have easily afforded to bring up a new bed for me to sleep in) was just plain insulting. Nonetheless, I put up little argument. I needed the rest, something told me I'd have my work cut out for me in this new world I was in. Speaking of, I still have no real idea about where in the Spiral I actually am. All that I was able to pick up on was the fact that this is obviously an isolationist world, probably due to a lack of knowledge that there is in fact life existing outside its own reach.

Most people I know would find this whole situation to be a bit far-fetched. There were civilizations all across the Spiral, most of which had contained at least a general knowledge concerning the affairs from beyond their own world. Luckily for me though, I happen to have first-hand experience with this sort of thing, having come from Earth and all. Although Earth had often toyed with the idea that there might be life outside of its own world, not everyone had believed it, and those that did, more likely than not, had not believed in the concept of magic to exist with it as well. It's probably for the best though, because according to Ambrose, Earth's overall global military is currently 8powerful enough to rival or even surpass that of the Valencian Armada, with or without the need for magic.

Ironic, considering how most stories involving magic and extra terrestrial life on Earth had always depicted them as being godlike in nature, with power and technology which could easily surpass that of Earth's own. Heck, even Zeus Skyfather and his brothers used to be viewed as gods among men. In some extreme cases though, they're probably right, because as powerful as Earth may be, I doubt they could compete with the full strength of the Umbra Legion, at least on a head-on battle. Nevertheless, if Earth was ever unwillingly introduced to the rest of the Spiral, it could become a great force to be reckoned with.

I awake to find myself restrained by the neck through the use of a chained prison collar. I can't say I'm all that surprised by the whole ordeal, but I'm certainly disappointed by it. These people obviously had no idea how to treat their "familiars", let alone their fellow wizards. Some might be animalistic in appearance, but familiars have always been smart enough to determine whether or not they were being treated cruelly, and this was definitely a case of cruelty. Thankfully, Louise seems to have woken up just shortly after me, so with a little effort, I might be able to negotiate a release from this restraint without any form of hassle. It's not like I'm unable to break it apart if push comes to shove, after all, what kind of Ravenwood graduate would I be if I didn't know how to use a simple release spell? That sort of thing would be considered a parlor trick at best.

Regardless, it seems diplomacy will be my best approach here. I am, by all accounts, an alien in this world. If there are any signs of attempted escape, they might see it as an act of hostility and aggression, then start viewing me as a threat, which could be made even worse by what happened with that one staff member yesterday. So, I decided to play nice for the time being, at least until it's been made clear that my intentions aren't anything threatening.

The most difficult part about the negotiation will be retaining a steady demeanor. If I seem too calm, she might grow suspicious and think I'm plotting something, but if I try to stage a panic attack, she could grow annoyed, which would only strengthen her desire to keep me locked up... but before I can even get started with this negotiation, I first have to get her to confirm their motives behind keeping me restrained, and in her own words. Louise seemed to have been a bit too preoccupied with her morning routine to have noticed me, because it was only until I'd started moving around, thereby rattling the chains, that she had visibly acknowledged my presence.

"What the hell? Why am I wearing this collar?" I ask, exaggerating my annoyance.

"It's to keep you from running away," she responds calmly.

"You're my familiar now, and I can't have you trying to escape just because you say you're from another world."

"I am from another world," I say, pouting.

"I'd thought the time I sprouted black wings would have been proof enough."

"It's true that we've never seen people with abilities like that before, but if what you say is true, and you are in fact from another world, how could you have known we wouldn't have similar experiences with flight?" she questions.

I can't help but feel slightly impressed, her powers of logical reasoning are a lot stronger than I'd originally anticipated, even if she had turned out to be wrong in this case.

"You do seem to have a deep understanding of our language, after all."

"There's a reason for that, but it's a long story, and one I'd rather not have to get into right now... and besides, believe it or not, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to me." I explain truthfully.

I had no way of knowing whether or not she'd actually believe me when I said that, but it was true, nonetheless. A look of annoyance spread across her face, and it looked like she'd started to catch on to what I was trying to do, not that it mattered at this point in time.

"If you want the collar to come off, you're going to have to prove yourself", she says flatly. She reaches into one of her dresser drawers and grabs hold of one of her uniforms, throwing it at me.

"You can start by dressing me."

My eyes widen as I hear that. Even if this _is_ a considerably primitive world compared to most, I'd at least expected them to develop a higher sense of modesty, why else would they be wearing clothes to begin with? It seems to exist just about everywhere else in the Spiral among intelligent beings, after all ... well, aside from primordials and some plant creatures.

"What the?! Are you disabled or something? Why can't you just dress yourself?" I ask, letting my annoyance get the better of me.

Sadly, it seems to have just made things more complicated, because _her_ look of annoyance has since evolved into a look of anger.

"The nobility never dress themselves, that's what they have servants for!" she shouts.

She tried to hide it in her tone, but I could tell by the look of her face that I must've embarrassed her.

I decided to revert back to the middle ground by attempting to appeal to her sense of modesty, asking her "Aren't you embarrassed by having a guy you don't even know dress you?" to which she responds with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean? You're just my familiar." she answers sincerely, as if she wasn't just blushing furiously a few seconds ago.

This negotiation is getting nowhere fast. It's becoming increasingly obvious that she has no intention of releasing me from these chains unless I can somehow give her a reason to do so, a trade, as it were. So, I offer to teach her a spell which can automatically teleport clothes onto her in exchange for my release. She refuses, stating that such a convenient spell would most likely not exist. Oh, if only she knew... I'm about to offer a counter argument when a look of shock and revelation spreads across her face and she interrupts me.

"Oh no, I'm late! Now I'll barely have time to finish breakfast!" she exclaims, as she hurredly begins changing her clothes.

I avert my eyes, not willing to surrender my own sense of modesty just because she had surrendered hers.

I'm about to give up on the negotiation, thinking that I could just release myself with a spell while she's gone and put it back on before she gets back, but to my surprise, she ends up reaching into one of her pockets and grabs a key, beginning to unlock the restraint.

"Wait, why are you releasing me now?" I ask curiously.

"It's against school policy for familiars to be left at their master's dorm unattended. I'll have to bring you with me." she tells me. I offer no resistance, thinking that it might give me another excuse to explore the place a little bit more.

* * *

We arrive at the dining hall, and I'm immediately taken aback by what I see. The room is huge, and filled with students all over, chatting their mouths and ears off. The echoes across the hall do nothing to help soothe the loud noises from across all of the various different conversations filling the room. I can't help but be reminded of the Harry Potter movies I'd seen back at Earth before I was summoned, because the dining hall combined by the student's uniforms had bared a direct resemblence to the place from where all the students would gather in those movies (sadly, I'd never gotten the chance to read any of the books).

Louise decided to sit at a table with just enough room for two additional people, but true to the nature of things, I was informed that I would be dining alone, on the floor, with a dirty plate and some stale bread. Needless to say, I went without eating. I figured that if it came down to it, I could just conjure up one of my leftover harvests from my garden... which is probably wilting now thanks to a certain someone.

After Louise finishes breakfast, we go on our way out of the dining hall, when, as if on cue, the red-haired girl from yesterday decides to drop by and make an appearance, with a red lizard-creature which I can only assume is her familiar following after her. I can tell just by the look on her face that things are about to turn ugly, so I quickly decide to stay quiet.

"Well Louise, I must admit, you did a stellar job during that familiar summoning yesterday," she says, smirking. "You almost made it look real, especially with that gigantic explosion."

"I made a proper summons! It was just by coincidence that he showed up!" Louise snaps back, pointing angrily at me.

"Well, if you ask me, I think you two were made for each other!" she taunts, walking away.

"What a piece of work, that one. Still, she's not the meanest person I've met. You gonna be okay?" I ask Louise, who looks angrier than Cyrus Drake on Mondays.

"I'm fine! Don't worry about me." she shouts, leaving as well.

I'm about to follow after her when, all of a sudden, a small beholder-like creature pops out in front of me. I jump back instinctively, being reminded of the Gaze of Fate spell, and end up knocking over someone. After I take a second look though, I'm quickly able to deduce that it wasn't what I thought it was, and turn around to help whoever I just knocked against.

"Sorry! I'm still not quite used to being around... well, here." I say, extending my hands to help her up and pick up the piece of dropped cake that was layed on the ground.

She accepts my help, allowing me to get a closer look on her. For starters, she looks young, probably around my age. The outfit she's wearing bares a direct resemblence to that of a classic maid's uniform, which implies the obvious. I don't think I'll ever understand why that uniform has become so universally traditional. Her eyes are blue and her hair is black, and her facial features could suggest that she is of Japanese or MooShu heritage, if I didn't already know better.

"Oh, that's alright," she says, smiling at me. She begins to eye me closely, making me feel uncomfortable. "Hey, you're the familiar that Miss Vallière summoned, right?" she asks.

"Well, yeah, but how did you know?" I ask her in response.

"Are you kidding? That's all that everyone's talking about. A peasant being summoned as a familiar, it's unheard of!" she exclaims.

"I suppose it could be, but I'm not exactly from around here. Can you explain what being a peasant or a noble is supposed to entail?" I ask.

"Oh, well, people who can use magic are nobles, but people who can't use it are considered peasants."

"Seriously, is that all?" I think to myself.

I can't believe this. They're measuring someone's social status over their ability to use magic? If that's the case, I should be considered royalty here!

It was obvious then, given by her appearance ( not to mention my ability to sense other people's magical power), that she was among the peasant class. She must've been hired to work under the nobility here as a maid.

"What's your name?" I ask her.

"My name is Siesta, and I have the honor and privilege of serving the nobility here." she tells me.

"'Honor and privilege'... right." I think to myself again.

"My name's Benjamin, but you can call me Ben if you want, just _please don't_ call me Benji, I've heard enough of that to last me two lifetimes." I tell her.

She looks at me curiously, and responds with "Benjamin? That's a strange name."

"Really? Where I've been, it's usually pretty common." I tell her.

"Hey! Are you going to bring me my cake?" a student shouts. Looking over, I could see that it was the blonde student from last night, the very same one who suspended me up in the air.

Being the "gentleman" that I am, I offer to go over and deliver his cake over for her. I'm still pretty mad about what happened last night, and I'm starting to hate his smug additude. So, I decided to do what any other self-respecting person would do, and give him the piece of cake that fell on the grass. Despite having been dropped, the cake still looked fresh, as though it had just been prepared. If one didn't see us drop it to begin with, they probably couldn't even tell that it was dirty at all. On my way over, I could see and hear him trying (and failing) to pick up a female student who was sitting across from him.

The girl he was next to was huffing at him, stating that she'd heard rumors about him seeing other girls aside from her.

I really didn't want to have anything to do with this conversation, but it seems fate just didn't care about that, because as soon as I hand him the slice of cake, she immediately decides to drag me into it, demanding to know if I'd seen or heard anything.

"Sorry, I just got here, and I don't really know that much about what's going on." I tell her.

"I recognise you, you're the familiar Louise summoned yesterday, aren't you?" he questions.

"Yeah, and you're the jerk who tried to give me motion sickness. Thanks for that by the way, and enjoy your cake." I say to him, walking away.

As I go further along the courtyard, I end up coming across yet another familiar face, in the form of the young brunette from last night. She looked confused, so I asked her what was wrong. She told me she was looking for Lord Guiche, who she was apparently with last night. I point her over to the blonde guy at the table, and she immediately runs over to greet him, earning a look of shock coming from the other female student.

Sparks begin to fly from the other girl as the brunette reminisces about the previous night, mentioning something about soufflé and how he'd said he wanted to try some. This doesn't sit well with the blonde, who starts to glare angrily at the newly dubbed Lord Guiche, demanding to know what she was talking about. He tried to quell the anger and confusion between them, stating that it was all just a needless misunderstanding, but it wasn't before long until they came to the inevitable conclusion that he had been two-timing them.

The three-way conversation ends with the two girls slapping him in the face, proclaiming "You're just a liar!" and leaving a red mark on his cheek from where the blonde girl slapped him.

The break up (if you can even call it that) didn't go unnoticed between the other students, who begin to mock him, stating that he deserved everything he'd gotten.

I start to walk away, thinking that was the end of it, when I'm stopped for a third time by Guiche himself, who glares angrily at me.

"I know you had something to do with this," he accuses. "You are what drove her over here to me, aren't you? I saw you conversing with her."

"Sure, I pointed her over to you, but I had nothing to do with you getting hit in the face." I tell him.

"Don't try to deny it, you were obviously angry about last night, and you wanted revenge, so you brought her over to me to create a misunderstanding."

"What are you talking about? I already told you I had no idea about what was going on around here, what happened today was on you. And as far as the revenge thing goes, did you even _try_ the cake I left you?"

"Enough of this! You have insulted me, and made two beautiful ladies cry on top of it! This will not go unpunished!" he threatens.

"I'm not the one who went two-timing them. Just tell me what you want."

"I demand a duel!" he shouts angrily.

It takes me a moment to process what was just said. The audacity of it all was just plain ridiculous.

"With me..? Seriously?" I ask him.

"If you do not agree to the duel, I will take it upon your master, instead." he threatens.

There was no way I was letting him drag Louise into this. I may have only just met her, but that doesn't mean I'm going to have her fight my battles, if this can even classify as one.

"Fine, I'll humor you, if it'll help you calm down. I accept your challenge." I say in response.

When you're going through life in a high school, especially one which requires student dorms, it doesn't take long for rumors to spread. In fact, if I were a pyromancer, I could probably even say that they spread like Wyldfire. No, actually, scratch that, I hate puns.

Such was the case with this school, because as soon as I'd gone on my way to the designated dueling spot, Louise caught up to me, demanding to know what I was thinking to agree to a duel against Guiche.

"Don't worry about it, I'll go easy on him." I assure her. Sadly, she doesn't budge.

"I'm not worried about him! I'm worried about you!" she tells me in response.

"Really? Well, you won't be for long." I tell her, as I go by my way to the dueling location.

She doesn't give up in trying to persuade me though, saying some crap about how "Peasants never win against nobility" and that "Guiche will not show any mercy".

I almost wish I cared.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the principal's office, Professor Colbert is currently sharing his news about the now famous peasant familiar, which the students have dubbed "the Familiar of Zero".

"Hmm..." says the principal, recollecting his thoughts.

"I don't believe any records exist of having a peasant familiar."

"That is not our highest concern..." Colbert interjects.

"I've been doing some research, and the runes on her familiar appear strikingly similar to this." he says, showing the symbol from within the scroll.

The principal looks in shock, as though he's just seen a dead body.

* * *

Going back to my comment on rumors, it seems to apply in all directions, because the so-called dueling arena was already packed to the brim with spectators, before the duel had even started.

I make my way to the center of the place and am immediately "greeted" by the challenger himself.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come, you kept me waiting you know."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but I couldn't decide on what to wear for our little dance." I joke.

Once more, I get no reaction from the "audience".

I suppose I should just give up on making these people laugh.

"Any rules?" I ask him.

"But of course, it wouldn't be a proper duel without a firm set of rules. The first to surrender loses, although I might also accept it if you were to just lie there unconscious. Let us begin!"

He starts the battle by waving his rose (wand?) in a horizontal motion. The pedals of said rose all fall off correspondingly, creating a small flash of light, which summons a golem minion bearing the appearance of a Valkyrie.

"My title is Guiche the Brass, so it is only fitting that a brass golem, a Valkyrie to be more precise, shall be your opponent."

"Fine with me, it's not the first time I've had to fight two-on-one." I boast, hoping to shake his confidence.

Before I can react, the golem punches me at an impressive speed (well, given its size) straight into the stomach, with just enough force to knock my body to the ground.

Too bad for him, my magic and gear both act as a sort of armor as well as a healing factor. While most humans would have no doubt lost their breath from enduring such a swift blow, I on the other hand, hardly felt it. In fact, I can honestly say that it doesn't even hurt me.

The same can't be said for him though, or his golem. In fact, judging by their health status, all it would take for me to destroy the golem would be a simple Ghoul spell.

I decided not to use it though, thinking about what happened the last time I used my magic in front of them. The entire group was shocked to see me gliding my way to freedom, how would they react to me summoning the undead? I still had no idea what was considered "normal" around here, and I'd rather not have to deal with a bunch of primitive priests declaring me to be a demon or heretic, so I decide to take the beating for a bit, at least until an opportunity comes that would allow me to destroy it without my magic.

I exaggerate the pain received from the golem's attack, gripping my stomach and slowly standing back up.

"I'd feel really bad about breaking something that Louise owns, so I'll forgive you if you just surrender."

Looks like those Marleybonian acting lessons paid off.

"Declaring superiority after just one hit? That's a sure sign of arrogance, Lord Geeks." I taunt.

Guiche grimaces at the insult, but his look of anger is quickly followed by a look of mischief.

"Have it your way."

* * *

Back at the principal's office, Professor Colbert is still discussing with the principal about the significance of the familiar's rune.

"These types of runes have only ever been seen in legend." he states with a serious look on his face.

"This is the symbol of Void magic, it was said that if ever you were to come across someone with this symbol, they would almost certainly have an affinity to Void magic." he continues.

"Furthermore, considering it was the Vallière girl who summoned him, I'd venture that this familiar does indeed hold a strong affinity over it."

"It can't be!" Colbert exclaims.

"Regardless of what the truth may hold, you must never speak of this to anyone."

"Understood."

* * *

Several minutes have passed, and I've still not been given a single opportunity to take down his golem. I'm given a phenomenal boost in strength thanks to my gear, but it's still not enough to take down the golem... not without blades or traps. Not to mention the fact that Guiche himself has barely moved an inch since the fight began, so I can't gain an accurate assessment on their own physical strength through looking at him either. No matter how you look at it, I'm at a disadvantage. Once more the golem punches me, and once more I'm knocked into the ground. I start to get up once more, pretending to struggle on my way, but before anything else can happen, the duel is interrupted by a very frightened Louise.

"Guiche, stop this!" she pleads, as tears form in her eyes.

"Do not interfere Louise, step aside." he tells her.

I can't do that, not while my familiar is still in danger!" she interjects. Wait, danger?

"Louise, move." I tell her.

"But - "

"Didn't I tell you before? I got this." I say, winking at her, showing none of the signs of pain from before.

She seems to have caught on to what I was doing, because all that she does next is nod, and then move back to where she was.

I turn back to face Guiche once more, who's still bearing the same stupid smirk all across his face.

"Do you still wish to continue, peasant?" he half-asks, half-taunts.

He throws another rose on the ground. Like before, the pedals fall off all at once, and like before, a small flash covers the area from which it was dropped. This time, however, it wasn't a golem which he had summoned, but a longsword which was sitting stabbed through the grass.

I raise my eyebrows as I begin examining the sword which was laid out for me. It contains no magical properties from inside it, but all I needed was one look to be able to tell that it was more than I needed to be able to take out that golem. This may be the one opportunity I need. Guiche just signed his death warrant, figuratively speaking, of course.

"If you have the will to continue then all you must do is pick up that sword... but if you don't, then all you must do is say that you're very, very sorry."

"I'm sorry your parents had to put up with you." I taunt.

To my surprise, the newly created tattoo on my hand starts to glow upon picking up the sword, and I can feel a sudden surge of power rushing through me, and I feel as though I can move much faster than before.

"Cool." I say to myself, walking over to the golem.

Before anything else can happen, the golem comes rushing at me again, aiming to punch me straight in the face.

I manage to duck in time, avoiding any contact from its fist, and decide to put an end to it before things grew more annoying for me.

I slash through the golem's abdomen and end up cutting it in half, having it disappear immediately upon its destruction.

The rest of the crowd looks at me with awe and surprise but Guiche just glares at me again, summoning even more golems than before.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today." I say, slashing through them all with ease.

It doesn't take long for me to close the distance between me and Guiche, who looks on in shock as well as fear, falling on the ground.

I think I like this new ability.

"Say it." I tell him, playfully twirling the sword around.

"S-say what?" he asks, fearfully.

"Say 'Uncle'". I respond, smirking.

"Uncle! I surrender! Please don't hurt me!" he begs.

Having just won the duel, I set the sword back on the grass, and as the tattoo on my hand stops glowing, I begin to feel dizzy, almost as though I'm falling...

"Nope!" I quickly say, immediately snapping out of the dizziness.

"Not this time."

I look over at Guiche, who's still on the ground, looking on in shock over what just happened.

"I don't understand. How could you have won? You didn't even use any magic."

"There are other ways to win a battle than to just use magic." I tell him.

"You know, it looks like you and I just got off on the wrong foot. What say we just start over and forget this little event?" I offer, extending my hand to him as a sign of friendship, which he reluctantly accepts.

The crowd begins to cheer over the outcome of the duel, and the rest of the day goes by rather quietly.

* * *

 **Yeah, I know, not much of a make-up for all the time that's passed, but I'm going to make an effort to catch back up. As you no doubt can already tell, most of this story is going to follow through the events of the Familiar of Zero anime, with adjustments being made to fit it into my story. I might add some side chapters here and there to spice some things up though. I have a question concerning that though, which villain(s) from Wizard101 would you like to have made a possible reappearance (excluding those which are already considered dead)?**

 **Until next time, and thanks for reading!**


	4. Origins

**Hey guys, been a while hasn't it? I'm sorry about that, I wouldn't have waited this long if I could help it. It started out as simple writer's block, but eventually my PC quit charging, so I had to deal with that, and now I'm stuck studying for my GED and other various things. I'm back now, and I will try my best to update more often. This next chapter is short because it's explaining the origins of my OC, which ties into the storyline for Wizard101.**

 **I tried to keep it as spoiler-free as possible for those who haven't yet played the game but want to. It's also done in the same format as the Ravenwood Roll Calls, which were short videos uploaded onto YouTube that explained the origins of some Wizard101 characters. This means that there's no Louise or anything like that, and this is essentially just a thriller. I'll try to have the next chapter of the story uploaded in the next few days to make up for it.**

 **Also, I've looked back on the previous chapters and made some changes. Nothing major, just some fixed typos and removal/replacement of certain dialogue which I thought was a little awkward.**

* * *

Welcome, young Wizards, to the class rolls of Ravenwood. Today's focus is the mysterious necromancer known only by his forename as "Benjamin".

Not much is known about this young _Savior of the Spiral_. Some say he was born into a family of pirates from Skull Island, but was left orphaned after their crew mutineed. Others say he was brought into this world by the Grandfather Tree himself, old Bartleby. Some few even suggest that he is from a world, without magic!

What is known, however, is that Benjamin was first brought to our attention in the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts.

It all started when he was brought into the realm of Wizard City, by none other than the Headmaster of Ravenwood himself, Merle Ambrose. Having already seen for himself just what the young Necromancer to be was capable of doing with a wand, Merle wasted no time in enrolling him into his academy, and it was there from whence he had learned how to properly use his magic.

Having enrolled at the ripe young age of thirteen, Benjamin was not only the brightest, but also the youngest of Wizards ever to be accepted into the prestigious school.

Unfortunately for him, however, Ravenwood had recently undergone a sort of "falling out" with their old Death professor, Malistaire Drake, so he was unable to properly begin his studies at first. It wasn't until he met with another young wizard named Malorn Ashthorn that he was able to undergo his true studies as a necromancer.

Malorn had been one of Malistaire's best pupils, and he had no intention of letting his school of choice leave alongside his professor. So, he took it upon himself to teach Benjamin the basics of Necromancy, alongside a few other curious young Wizards, most notably being Penny Dreadful of the Marleybone Dreadfuls, and Marla Stinger.

Then, one fateful night, after a fierce battle with Lord Nightshade the Wraith, Benjamin had actually _found_ the missing Death school! Not only that, but the Death school's former assistant, Dworgyn, living inside of it!

It was thanks to Dworgyn that Benjamin had grown into such a powerful necromancer. He had taught Benjamin all sorts of things, ranging between the importance of _Feints_ , the _Empowering_ of one's spells, and even summoning various monsters such as the Scarecrow and Avenging Fossil.

Benjamin has since graduated from Ravenwood, and is rumored to have associated himself with a mysterious group of Wizards known as the Arcanum, but this isn't the end of his adventures in Wizard City, nor in Ravenwood, as he has since spent his spare time tutoring some of the newest of Ravenwood's students, as well as assisting Dworgyn with a secret project they've been working on, which may or may not involve the dead eyes of a rotting fodder.

When asked about his likes and dislikes, Benjamin stated that he has a paradoxical interest in learning new things, but a strong dislike for hard study. His favorite food is stated as being vanilla ice cream, and his favorite spell is the "Vampire" summoning spell.


	5. New Best Friend

**And here we are, still a bit later than I intended. I have a bit of a weakness when it comes to describing appearances, and sadly it'll probably show within this chapter. If the scene with Kirche seems a bit rushed, that's because it was. It felt awkward writing it, especially since it involved an already existing character attempting to seduce my OC. I might try to change it up a bit later, but for now, it is as it is. Also, I've decided that I'm going to answer some questions left for me in the reviews whenever they come to me. If you don't care to read them, just start reading after the first line separating the author's notes from the story.**

 **1 One Piece Fan asks:**

 ** _"ok sooo... first of all... none of us have any idea what he even looks like. secondly, why didnt he use his magic? im not sure about if the higher levels have a spell which summons a sword instead of a... creature? or magical being i guess, but anyway on with my point; im not sure if higher levels have spells like that but why wouldnt he use his magic to summon something instead of all that drama with him opting to use a sword? i mean he IS a wizard isnt he? or have i been reading something else?"_**

 **There are a couple of reasons why I'm writing the story this way, so I'll stick to the short explanation. The reason why we don't know what he looks like is because Wizard101 is a game where the player creates his or her own character, as well as their appearance. Although this story is revolving around my own character, I left his appearance a mystery so that people may relate to their own character more easily. That's also why the previous chapter was as vague as it is. Not to mention, it's being told from his point of view as though he's speaking with the audience, so he probably doesn't feel the need to have to describe himself to them.**

 **As far as him not using his magic, the in-universe explanation is that he's afraid that it'll cause more harm than good. Compared to the type of magic you see in the Familiar of Zero universe, the magic you see inside Wizard101 is VERY overpowered. It's even implied that he has some degree of reality warping through Shadow magic, although it's never really shown inside the game's combat system. The out-of-universe explanation is that I didn't want to have Guiche get destroyed in a duel just to make him look bad or my own OC to look good.**

 **Some of you might notice that there isn't much of a change between the events in the anime and the chapters posted so far. That's because in essence the story is still just getting started. I do plan on following through the anime's storyline, but when things start to become more "eventful" I'm going to add some more changes to make things more interesting. I'm also open for any suggestions that someone may have for me.**

* * *

It's now been two days since my arrival here at... wherever this is, and in spite of recent events, things still haven't really changed much for the better. For one thing, my morning had begun with a series of tantrums and shouts from Louise, all of which were aimed directly at me. She kept saying things along the lines of "A mere peasant familiar should never act so disobedient towards its master," and that "It should always be showing more gratitude towards her."

In other words, I've been downgraded from a "mere peasant familiar" to an "it" all in one tantrum. Great.

Any attempts at calming her down were met with little or no success at all, so when I finally found the opportunity to get away from her, I happily took it without hesitation. It's just too bad that said opportunity involved washing her clothes for her first thing in the morning.

Honestly, I just don't understand these "nobility", or more specifically, Louise herself. Sure she's sassy, but she showed no signs of this sort of attitude towards me yesterday, before or after the duel, and yet, here I am, being kicked out of the room until I have "fulfilled my duty as a familiar".

I'd thought that a familiar's duty involved assisting with people's magic? Yet, here I am, being treated like nothing more than a slave. Still, this isn't the worst treatment I've received from someone, and I can only wonder what people like the Manders must have been going through before I joined the picture. It's hard to complain about this sort of thing when you spend so much time around people who have it so much worse than you.

All that being said, I have no real intention of washing her clothes for her, I was just going to wait a certain amount of time until I'd think she might have calmed down, maybe survey the environment a little bit more, and get to know the place better.

After said time had already passed, I decided to go back and see if her mood had changed any, and it did. Well... sort of.

Although her anger was no longer directed towards me specifically, I was still at the receiving end of it. Apparently she was running late for class... just like yesterday. And who was to blame for it? Me... just like yesterday. According to her, I'd spent too much time washing all of her clothes, and my lack of discipline is what's accounting for her tardiness. Luckily, the subject of the location of her not-yet-washed clothes was never brought up. A good thing too, since I forgot where I put them to begin with.

Her classroom looked to be exactly how I imagined it. The teacher stood in the front of the room behind her desk and in front of a big chalk board. There were desks centered throughout the area for the students to sit and listen, and the teacher was dressed in the same sort of attire one would guess. It was all so... ordinary. Stereotypical even. In fact, it was kind of boring. There were no school colors, no "magical chalk" which would write today's lessons out on the board for everyone... it was just... bland.

The lessons they went over certainly weren't quite what I was expecting though. I managed to learn a lot about how they see magic and what they use to channel it. Their manner of teaching is completely different than that of both Ravenwood and Pigswick. The way they see things is... primitive, to say the least. They appear to be stuck under the preconceived notion that quantity outmatches quality, and that the more types of spells that a person can cast, the better the wizard they are.

Oh, if only that were true. Sadly, in this universe, quality outmatches quantity by a longshot. If I were to pit a magus level wizard with proficiency in two schools against a grandmaster wizard with proficiency in only one, my money would be on the grandmaster, any day. Of course, that's not to say that the magus could never win against the grandmaster (in fact, I've seen it happen before), but the grandmaster certainly holds a much better chance.

The reason for that? Understanding. The magus may hold a slight edge in versatility over the grandmaster, but the grandmaster typically holds a better understanding over their magic and its limits, and can use it to a much greater extent than the magus, who would only be considered "decent" at the two schools they study under.

I was about to stop listening to the lecture when something else caught my eye. Uh... ear. A student was asked to recite what the school considers to be the main elements of magic. A pretty typical start of the school year, one that I wouldn't pay much mind to, if not for the rather unique answers. Those answers being Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

"Air magic? I've never even seen that before. I wonder what they can do with it?" I think to myself, making a mental note to visit their library at the first opportunity.

* * *

Later that night:

* * *

Right when I'm about to head off to sleep, I find myself confronted by a once-again angry Louise, looking at me with what I can only assume as being her best attempt at a death glare... which was surprisingly very threatening given her size.

I look at her apathetically, my lack of proper sleep starting to get to me. "Whatever it is, can't it just wait until morning?" I ask, which does nothing to help ease her temper, obviously.

"Where are my clothes?" She demands, looking angrier by the second.

Then it hit me... the reason why she was so mad... was because I left her clothes out in the middle of no where.

"Crap..." I mutter. She seems to understand what that's supposed to imply.

"Go find them! And you can forget about breakfast tomorrow since you didn't do what I said!"

"Yeah, yeah." I say, leaving the room.

Once I'm out in the hallway, I end up running into Siesta again, who, thankfully, happened to have held possession of Louise's "unmentionables" which were left outside. At least, I hope they're Louise's.

"Oh, Siesta! Good to see you. Are those... Louise's?" I ask her, pointing at the laundry she was holding.

"Why, yes, they are. I'm supposed to bring them over to her, but actually... I was looking for you, Mister Benjamin." Hearing her call me that hurt a little.

"You can just call me Ben. What do you need?" I ask.

"To thank you!" she says, bowing to me, both eyes closed. This catches me by surprise.

"Wait, what? Why are you thanking me?" I ask her.

She opens her eyes after I say that, and ends up taking me by the arm, nudging me to come after her.

"Please follow me!"

I silently agree to accompanying her, although I have no idea where she might take me.

* * *

The arrival to our destination was rather... surprising, to say the least. Not so much the destination itself so much as what I've found at said destination. Or more precisely, who I've found.

It seems that Siesta wanted to thank me by having a meal prepared for me by the school's head chef, although I still didn't exactly know what she was thanking me for... or why.

The chef was a burly man looking to be in his mid-to-late thirties. He had tan side-burns which transitioned into a beard and bushy eyebrows the likes of which would make even Prospector Zeke jealous. He stood confidently in his stereotypical chef's outfit with his arms crossed, watching as I'm about to take a bite out of the prepared food, as though he was convinced that I would enjoy it.

He was right. Although I'd only taken a bite of the bread, I could tell in an instant that it was some of the best bread I've ever eaten.

"This is great, thanks!" I say, grabbing another piece of said bread and putting it in my mouth.

The chef chuckles proudly at my response, and says to me "I'm sorry it's only leftovers, but feel free to eat all that you want, Sir Sword!"

I swallow the next piece rather awkwardly. Being compared to a weapon doesn't really feel right with me.

"Sorry, sword?"

"That's right! You're a peasant just like us, but you managed to win a duel against Guiche the Brass. You're our sword, the pride of us peasant folk!" he proclaims.

All of this, just for putting Guiche in his place? I've received less reward for putting out fires before! Still, it's nice to get pampered like this once in a while. The last time I had a meal this good was with Ivan and Mellori, during our party celebrating victory over the Rat in the Inn of the Midnight Sun.

"I really didn't do much, you know. It's not like he's a real threat to anyone." I respond earnestly.

"You hear that, guys? A true master never puts himself above the rest. That's what makes him different from those stupid nobles."

The rest of the room murmurs in agreement, and I feel an odd mixture of pride and embarrassment washing over me.

"Enough about me, this food is delicious! Do you have a secret recipe or something?" I ask, hoping to turn the attention around to someone else.

He pats me on the back, chuckling proudly again over the compliment.

"I'm glad you liked it! When it comes to me, Marto, I always go the extra mile to make sure everything tastes great. It's like magic you can eat!" he states.

"Not even close," I say, shaking my head in disagreement. "I've had magic food before, yours is leagues above that."

The chef looks at me when I say that as tears start to flow in his eyes.

"T-thank you! You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that!" he states, reaching in to hug me.

"I think I have an idea." I respond awkwardly, trying to "gently" pry him off of me.

I look off to Siesta, mouthing the words "Help me". She responds by giggling at the predicament.

* * *

After that whole ordeal with the chef was over, I asked Siesta if she'd be willing to give me a proper tour around campus. She agreed.

Shortly after the tour, we agree to stop over at the courtyard. I silently look out at the night sky, searching for some constellations which may seem familiar to me. No such luck.

Siesta breaks the brief moment of silence by thanking me for going with her to see the rest of the staff, saying that they were all big fans of me.

I don't think I've ever had "fans" before... at least, not any that were this open about it.

"Oh, uh... sure, no problem." I respond, not really knowing what to say.

* * *

We separate shortly afterwards, and I'm on my way back to Louise's room (with her clothes in hand this time) when I unexpectedly come face-to-face with a giant lizard in the hallway.

"Yikes, someone should put you on a leash," I say, walking past it.

Just when I reach arm's length of the thing, it grabs me by the leg (with its teeth) and starts to drag me in the other direction.

I sigh to myself, making sure to hold onto Louise's clothes with me as I'm forced into yet another unexpected journey.

"This had better be good." I tell it.

* * *

It wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

It seems our scaly little friend here had been given a mission. A mission which involved dragging me into a dark room which was currently occupied by only one other person: Kirche. Although, what she would want from me I could only guess.

My questions were answered almost immediately upon settling in. There was no way around it... this was an attempted seduction. If the scented candles and the revealing outfit weren't enough to give it away, the look on her face definitely was.

This is going to be weird.

"Welcome to my room, Sir Benjamin." she says to me, walking closer with each passing breath.

"Please... just call me Ben! Not Benjamin, not Benji, just Ben!" I exclaim. Being called by my formal name so often starts to feel weird after a while, and the fact that I'm in this stupid situation to begin with makes it all the more annoying.

"Very well, Ben." she coos. "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but you see, my code name is Fever. I tend to burn up, like a flaming torch."

"...What?"

"You see, Ben. I'm in love with you. Love always does come suddenly." she says, reaching closer to me.

"No, it doesn't." I think to myself, backing away instinctively.

She doesn't seem to be getting the hint, because despite my obvious discomfort, she continues to lean closer towards me, puckering her lips for a kiss.

Before anything else can happen however, she's interrupted by an unexpected visitor in the form of another male student... who for whatever reason sounded highly upset.

"Kirche! I came to check on you because you didn't show up for our date." the student shouts.

"Oh, I'm sorry Styx. Can you come back in two hours?"

Or two minutes, if I have it my way.

"That wasn't our deal!" he shouts angrily, as though he was a child being told "no" by his parents.

Wait... deal?

Kirche moans at the unexpected interruption, and closes her window with her wand.

"Who was he... and what just happened?" I ask warily.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's just an old friend." she says.

Obvious lie is obvious.

"Cool, can I go now?" I ask rhetorically, getting ready to stand. Before I can start to move though, she tackles me back down onto the floor.

"I love you, Ben." she whispers, getting closer to me again.

"No you don't." I respond, annoyed by her antics. Before I can say anything else though, she locks lips with mine.

"This isn't happening, right?" I think to myself.

Before anything else can happen, the door behind us slams open, as Louise angrily (and loudly) stomps in.

"Kirche!" she shouts, letting herself in.

"Hi Louise, nice timing. Care to help me out here?" I ask.

"Why are you trying to seduce my familiar!?" she demands.

"Isn't it obvious? She wants to piss you off." I tell Louise, who looks at me with surprise.

"That's not true at all!" Kirche says. "I only wish to burn in the flames of our love."

"You met me two days ago. Since that time, you mocked me for being Louise's familiar, dragged me here against my will, and kissed me without permission. That's not love, that's stalking." I say, picking up Louise's clothes and following her out the door.

* * *

We make it back to Louise's dorm, and I'm instantly filled with a sense of relief. Today was even more chaotic than yesterday, if you can believe it.

"Here are your clothes." I say, handing them over to Louise.

"What exactly was that?" I ask, hoping for a good explanation.

"Kirche and I are from rival families. Our families have been going at each other for generations." she tells me.

"I can't believe her! You're saying she went through all this just to make me angry?" she asks, growling.

"Looks that way." I respond.

"What were you even doing in her room then anyway?" she asks.

"That freaky lizard thing of hers dragged me over against my will."

"But you're a swordsman, aren't you? Couldn't you have just defended yourself?"

Easily. There were at least six different ways I could've gotten myself out of that situation, but what good would it do? I'm trying to keep my use of magic down to a minimum, and it's not like her familiar was actually posing as any sort of threat. I would've known if it was. Louise doesn't have to know that though.

"Sure, if I actually had a sword to begin with." I say in response.

"Then that settles it. Tomorrow, I'm buying you a sword." she announces.

* * *

We each woke up earlier than I expected. Despite my protest, it seems Louise was dead-set on getting me a sword to use. I kept telling her that I would be fine without it, but she wouldn't budge. I had to be able to "protect" myself against Kirche in case she "attacks" me again.

So, here we are, in the most god-awful smithing shop I've ever been in. Aside from the fact that almost none of these weapons hold any sort of magical properties, they each look like they were made for a novice by a novice. It took a great deal of willpower not to force our way out of the establishment before Louise bought something that wasn't worth it. Speaking of...

"I saw you wield a much bigger sword than this one." Louise says, examining a cutlass on display.

"Size matters not." I say, imitating a certain green alien from a certain awesome movie series.

"I want one that's much bigger and stronger." she tells the red-nosed merchant.

"Excuse me miss, but I believe that sword is the appropriate size for this young person." he argues.

Sadly, arguing with Louise is like arguing with a parrot, such can be made apparent with her next response.

"I said I want a sword that's bigger and stronger!" she shouts angrily, taking the merchant by surprise.

The merchant goes to the back of the shop with a mischievous look in the eye.

Oh boy, it's obvious he's about to rip her off.

He comes out shortly afterwards holding a fake long-sword made out of golden material. The new look on his face suggests that he thinks he's going to score a lot of money.

Hell no. If I can't stop her from spending her money, I can at least convince her not to waste it.

"Surely you're not going to offer us that?" I say, faking a look of fascination.

"This is the finest sword that we have. It was forged by a famous alchemist mage and swordsmith Lord Schvert of Germania! It can slice steal easily!" he proclaims.

"How much is it?" Louise asks.

"Three thousand gold coins." he responds, holding three of his fingers up to emphasize it.

"You're asking the wrong questions, Louise." I tell her, glaring at the shopkeeper. "Instead of asking how much it _costs_ , you should be asking how much it's _worth_."

"Why, I'd say it's at least worth five thousand coins.. just for starters." he says, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Then why are you selling it at nearly half that?" I ask, grabbing the "sword" from him.

I look at the sword from top to bottom, mock-examining it.

"Five thousand pieces, you said?" I ask rhetorically. He nods.

"More like five hundred." I say, frowning.

"What!?" Louise and the shopkeeper both say, surprised by my statement.

"I'm assuming you're trying to convince us it's worth that much because it's made of gold, right?" I ask, not waiting for a response.

"Gold is one of the worst metals you could possibly use in making a sword. It's too malleable, a strong enough person could break this thing just by striking a table with it. Unless you plan on hitting someone over the head with it, then it's only useful as a decoration."

"B-but sir, I assure you, we only offer the finest weapons for you to buy!" he argues, but by the tone of his voice I can tell that I must've shaken his confidence.

"Cut the crap Rudolf, and sell us a real weapon before we take our business elsewhere." I insist.

I take a look at the real weapons on display, for real this time, trying to find something which may be of some value, although this is more for Louise's sake than my own.

It was then that I spotted an old rusted-up sword and sheath. To the untrained eye it would look like any old piece of throw-away garbage, but not to me. I can sense the magic radiating off of it, and although it's not as powerful as some of my other weapons (namely the Sword of Kings), it certainly holds a unique trait to it... but I can't exactly tell what that is at first glance, which is another new experience for me.

"How much for that one?" I ask, pointing to the sword in question. A look of surprise and shock come from Louise and the shopkeeper, the former being from the shopkeeper, and the latter being from Louise.

"What, that? Well, I'd say a hundred... but sir, are you sure you want that weapon?"

"Definitely. You have the money, right Louise?"

"Actually, one hundred new gold pieces is just at my limit. If you're really sure about this, then we'll take it."

"Sweet! I can't wait to take it for a test run." I say excitedly.

On our way back to the school, Louise starts to question my decision on buying the sword.

"Are you sure that sword is good enough? It looks awfully old to me." she asks.

"Trust me Louise, I have an eye for this sort of thing," I say, gesturing towards the sword. "This thing may be old, but it's the most valuable thing he had at the store."

Figuratively speaking, we're lucky we were able to get it at such a low price." I assure her.

* * *

 **Later that night:**

* * *

Much to my dismay, it seems my previous encounter with "Kirche the Fever" (or "Kirche the Desperate" as I've begun to call her) didn't do much to discourage her from attempting to seduce me.

Such was made apparent by the fact that she, along with her friend, showed up at our doorstep with another golden sword in hand (although, knowing my life, it's probably the same item).

Looks like that merchant was able to sucker someone into buying it after all.

"I just happened to come across this very expensive sword, and I instantly started to think of you, Ben." she says, looking at me seductively.

"Thanks... but I already have a sword." I tell her.

"What, that old thing?" she asks, pointing towards our newly purchased weapon.

"A sword like that is hardly befitting of a strong man like yourself." she says.

"This sword, on the other hand, was said to have been hand-crafted by the best sword creator in Germania, the best swords come from there, and so do the best women" she states, winking at me.

Ah, yes. The sweet smell of an all-day sucker.

"You heard him, he already has a sword." Louise interjects, smirking at Kirche.

Please don't go where I think this is going.

"Ha! I bet the only reason you even bought that sword for him was because it looked pretty. You were even stupid enough not to realize that gold swords are pretty much worthless." she sneers.

Not like Louise was much different, but it's probably best I don't say that... at least, not right this minute.

Kirche glares angrily at Louise, and points her wand at her. Louise does the same with her wand, implying an impending duel was about to take place.

Of course it was going there, why wouldn't it?

I'm about to (attempt) to break up the fight, when all of the sudden, both of their wands come flying from their hands.

The blue-haired, glasses-wearing girl that came with Kirche waves her staff around, simply mouthing the word "Indoors" to tell them to stop.

"I don't know who you are, but right now, you're my favorite." I think to myself in regards to our second "guest".

Kirche glares once more at Louise, but her look quickly changes from a look of anger to that of mischief, and she says "If that's the case, perhaps we should let him decide."

"There's no way I can choose! You might as well be asking me if I want to give pain or receive it!" I exclaim.

This obviously doesn't sit well with either of them, because as soon as I say that they both decided to kick me right in the face.

"See? I was right. To give pain, or receive it."

Not that I felt any pain to begin with.

"I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you, I hate you. More than that, I hate everything about you." Kirche says to Louise.

"Is that so? Then I guess we have something in common, because I despise you."

Incoming cat fight in three, two...

"I demand a duel!" they both shout to each other.

"Why is this happening?" I think to myself, ready to put this whole mess behind us.

"Shut up already, you wenches!" somebody shouts from inside the room.

Wait, what?

They both turn their heads at me with a look of pure fury marked on their faces.

"What did you just say?" they say together again.

"Why are you both glaring at me? That didn't sound anything like me!" I say in defense of myself.

"If it wasn't you, then who else could it be?" Louise asks, still glaring at me.

"Good question. Who's there?" I ask, looking around the room.

"The sword." the girl with Kirche states.

Again, I must say... wait, what?

We all look to the sword unexpectantly, and sure enough, she was right. The sword can talk.

"I was just taking a nap, but you woke me up" it says, with parts of it rattling up and down like a mouth.

"It talks..? It talks! That's amazing!" I exclaim. "All my adventuring, and I've never come across a talking sword!"

Well, not verbally at least. The bond between me and the Sword of Kings has made me realize that the sword has a sort of consciousness to it. I can even understand what it's thinking, but I've never actually "heard it" talk to me before.

"I'm surprised. You don't look like most of the other users... yeah, no wonder I had to wake up." it says to me.

"What's a user?" I ask in response.

"Isn't that one of those intelligent swords, that has its own wisdom? You sure picked a strange sword to buy." Kirche says, smirking at Louise.

"Actually, it was my idea." I say in response to her.

"Wait just a minute, what year is this now, and where the hell are we? I want answers, damn it." it shouts.

"You and me both, pal." I tell it.

"Oh yeah, my name is Ben, by the way." I say.

"I'm Derflinger, nice to meet ya, brother." he responds.

Louise moans silently at the situation, then asks rhetorically to herself "Why does all of the strange stuff always happen to me?"

"Trust me when I say this, Louise. Your life doesn't even compare to the type of stuff I've gone through." I tell her.

After it was made apparent to Kirche that I had no intention of replacing the newly dubbed Derflinger, she and her friend leave the dorm, and the rest of the time we were awake was spent with me getting to know him a little bit better.

* * *

 **Well, if you've made it this far, you've probably finished the chapter. That, or you decided to scroll all the way down to the bottom for some apparent reason. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading!**


	6. Big Business

**And here we are, back with the longest chapter yet. I have mixed feelings about this one. Some scenes I'm rather proud of, others that just give me a headache when I reread it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it... and hey, he finally got to using his magic, so there's that. That said, viewer discretion is advised, because this chapter covers some minor cursing.**

 **This chapter covers certain characters and things with no prior description, similar to the protagonist. That's because, for the most part, this story is written from the OC's (who shall now be referred to as "Necro") point of view. After all, there's no need to describe something which you've already made yourself familiar with.**

 **I apologize if that takes away from the story for some people, but like I said before, it's hard for me to describe appearances properly. Who knows... maybe I'll get better at it some day.**

 **Anyways, like before and always, this chapter and those before it are still subject to change... so if it comes down to it I probably will add some more character details and information about them. Even if it's just during the author's notes. Now, onto the responses:**

 **The Frankcisco asks:**

 **"While this maybe a story that updates like a snail, it is very entertaining! I hope you can keep up the good work and hopefully update more frequently. Also, I wanna ask. Is Sir Benjamin of the Spiral Table gonna use his magic soon?"**

 **I plan to update more frequently, but no promises. I've been studying every day in preparation for the GED, and that takes up a bit of my time and brain power, which results in a harder time for me to write. I don't want to half-ass this story and post something that I think will be "kinda okay" and call it a chapter. In regards to the magic thing, well, as you've read before, he uses some of it this chapter... though not for any form of combat. The next chapter will hopefully go into further detail on how the whole magic thing is supposed to work. Thank you for the kind words! But, please don't call him that again. It hurts... besides, in the Spiral, they're known as "The Order of the Silver Rose". :P**

 **Guest(1) says:**

 **'Acutely I thought the sword from the show was was pyrite (also known as fools gold).when Saito struck Fouquet's golem the sword shattered. Pyrite is brittle and shatters when struck,gold is malleable and it flattens or bend's when hit. I believe if the sword was gold Saito should have wound up with a metallic pretzel."**

 **That's a very good point. I had considered that myself, but I figured I would stick to the idea that it was gold just because that's what it was labeled as. Who knows... it's possible that Necro had already known it was pyrite, and just didn't want to bother with a more in-depth explanation for it? There's that, or you could say that I have limited knowledge on how some metals work and didn't want to risk getting everything wrong.**

 **Guest(2) says:**

 **"Oh my god. I used to play wizard101 so much. I never thought I'd be reading fanfiction for it."**

 **Is that so? Well, I hope you consider that a good thing, and thanks for the review!**

* * *

The Arcanum. One of the most well-kept secrets of all time, known only to an extremely select group of spellcasters. In it, the most accomplished Scholars in the Spiral gather in the quest for knowledge and in the interest of protecting the Spiral. It exists in a place of its own, between worlds of the Spiral, enabling them to guard against threats both from within... and without.

That is, at least, according to the Myth scholar, Baba Yaga. If you were to ask somebody else in particular about it, though, he'd likely respond by saying it's a "colossal-sized frickin' space satellite, which was artificially constructed using magic and is probably older than all of us put together. At least, knowing my life."

Regardless of what the Arcanum is, or isn't, it exists... and it is here whence the most prominent spellcasters of the Spiral gather together with a common goal. What is that goal, you ask? Well, at the moment it is to find their newest initiate, the Wizard known as Benjamin, otherwise referred to as the Child of Light and Shadow.

It is in the Arcanum's very own Panopticon where they have gathered together. There's Baba Yaga, the witch from Avalon (not Polaris, that's a common misconception), who you already know as being the Myth Scholar. The Death Scholar, Qismah Shasa, the Black Cat from far off Mirage. The Life Scholar, Zander, the Koala of Wallaru. The Fire Scholar, Ignus Ferric, the far-famed Pyromancer from Avalon as well, and the Ice Scholar, Tarrak Hadfield, the Moosetaur from Polaris.

Then there's the Storm Scholar, Ione Virga, and the Balance Scholar, Jaki Whisperwind. Both of whom hail from far off... wait, hold on... time out. We don't know where they are from yet, do we? Are they even from the same place? Probably not. After all, Jaki is a jackrabbit, and Ione is a... what is she, exactly? No matter.

Last but not least, there are the Celestian Astral Scholar, Qyburn Stellargaze, and the Shadow Scholar from Darkmoor, Velma Von Venkman. Oh, and did I mention the winged-monkey known as Fitzhume, the Librarian of the Arcanum? Silly me, I almost forgot about poor Fitzhume, didn't I? Oh well, I suppose it's only natural to try to forget the _meanest_ one of the bunch.

"Let us review what we know." says Qismah.

"Approximately three Avalonian days ago, the Wizard Benjamin had gone with you, Baba Yaga, to Caliburn in order to create a nigh-unheard of dueling elixir..." she asks, waiting for confirmation.

"That's right, Qismah. What of it?" Baba Yaga responds, agitated.

"When, all of the sudden, a green teleporter circle appeared, and you urged him to go through it, without knowing of its true origin, or where it leads?" she asks once more, gesturing for another response.

"Yes..."

"Since then, numerous attempts have been made to contact him, and even to outright force him back to us, but to no avail. Is that right?" Qismah asks, crossing her arms.

"Come now, Qismah, you're wasting precious time. You're just repeating everything I told you a few minutes ago." Baba Yaga says, growing increasingly agitated.

"Honestly, what could have posessed you to do this, Baba?" Qismah sighs, rubbing her temples in exasperation.

"Don't go blaming me for this, dearie! He should've known better than to trust everything I say at face value. I'm just a crazy old witch, you know, heheh." she responds.

Fitzhume clears his throat, hoping to draw attention away from the impending argument between the two.

"I don't see what the big deal is. New initiates go missing all the time, why is he so special?" he asks.

Qismah glares at Fitzhume for his rudeness, clearly distraught at the disappearance of her newest disciple, but she quickly dismisses his rudeness and decides not to say anything. To her surprise, Velma Von Venkman decides to respond in her place instead.

"You mean besides the fact that he's the one who defeated The Rat?" she states, hands on her hips.

"How about when he stopped Morganthe from destroying the Spiral? Or Malistaire, or the Coven?"

"Oh, please. Morganthe was just an idiot who didn't understand the power she had. Malistaire was a stupid grieving man who didn't know how to let go of his lost love, and the Coven would've doomed itself before it doomed the rest of the Spiral." he argues.

"I can't help but notice that you didn't acknowledge the point I made about the Rat." Velma states, smirking at the weakness in his argument.

"Well, that's because-"

"Enough, both of you." Ione says, authoritatively. "Arguing will not get us anywhere. We need to... discuss how we are going to deal with this problem."

"Ione's right, don't ya know. That's why Baba Yaga brought us here, after all, isn't it?" Tarrak states, matter-of-factly.

"I say we go and hit the books, and try to figure out what kind of magic we're dealing with here. The arcanum has a copy of every book in the Spiral, after all. There's bound to be something on these mysterious teleportation circles." suggests Qyburn.

"A bright idea, Qyburn. Our personal studies can wait, we've gotta get Benjamin back!" agrees Ignus.

"Just one more thing..." Qismah starts. "Please, try not to get Merle Ambrose involved. We don't know how the old Wizard will respond to his former student's sudden disappearance."

"I don't know about that, Qismah. If I know Ambrose, and I do, I'd say he's already got it all figured out. He's got a knack for being on top of things without anybody else ever knowing about it... a traight I happen to hold a lot of respect for." Ignus counters.

"Regardless, we must try to keep this incident as quiet as possible. Nobody else must know of his disappearance." she insists.

"Agreed." they all say at once, short for Fitzhume, who simply stays quiet. Little did they know that he would be doing his own personal research into the manner. Out of simple curiosity, of course.

* * *

Back to Benjamin:

Today has been considerably different from the rest of my days here so far... and in a good way, too. Instead of being awoken by shouting, I was awoken by chirping. Instead of being challenged to a duel, I was challenged to arm wrestling. Instead of being dragged against my will into a dark room with no one but Kirche, I was... well, actually, that happened anyway.

Still, today was a nice change of pace for me. It was as though everybody (but Kirche) decided all together that today should be an off day for me... not that I'm complaining.

Even so, I can't help but feel like there's something I'm missing. Like there's something that needs to be stopped and that I'm the only one that _can_ stop it, but I don't know what "it" is. I get that feeling a lot, nowadays. It may sound cool to some people, to feel like you and only you have that kind of power, but it's not. The responsibility that comes with it is awful. What was that one saying? With great power comes... never mind. You get the idea.

I decided to take a walk around the courtyard once more, but this time it wasn't in search for a familiar sighting. This time, it was just to clear my head.

After I finished my walk, I start to head back to the dorms, when, you guessed it, Siesta showed up, which leaves me to wonder if she's doing this sort of thing on purpose.

"Hey Siesta, what's up?" I greet.

"Hello. I hope you don't mind, but... I wanted to ask you a question that's been bothering me lately." she says.

She came all this way just to ask me a question? What's so important?

"Shoot."

"It's just that... your speech and mannerisms are very different from what I'm used to. Your clothes are different as well." she says, fidgeting her fingers.

Wait, what's wrong with my clothes? I mean, sure, I haven't been able to change them since I arrived, but they're not dirty. I've got a couple special charms on them that clean them whenever they get dirty. Magic is convenient that way.

"I guess what I'm asking is... Where exactly did you come from?"

Earth... then Wizard City. She doesn't need to know that though.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I respond.

Um, excuse me, mister... I mean... Ben." she starts, correcting herself.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for all that you've done." she says, bowing.

"For what?" I inquire.

"For never giving up no matter what happens. You're even willing to stand against the nobility." she says, smiling at me.

"This again? I seriously didn't do anything." I think to myself.

"Seeing you like that gives me a lot of courage. I can continue to do my best because of you." she tells me.

"Oh, uh... good, I guess." I spit out, not really knowing what to say.

Hearing her say all that makes me feel awkward, much like the awkwardness that the author must be feeling for having written this scene... but you didn't hear that from me.

"Well, good night." she says, leaving the courtyard.

What exactly was that? There's definitely something going on with her, isn't there?

Once more on my way back to the dorm, my journey is interrupted by a half-naked Kirche, standing outside her door anxiously. Her look of impatience turns into a look of excitement when she notices me walking by.

"You've been waiting for me to come by, haven't you?" I ask rhetorically.

"You know me so well, and we've only just met." she responds, grinning.

Of course she was. Seriously, between her and Siesta, I'd swear there must be some kind of conspiracy going on which keeps me from going back to Louise's dorm when I mean to.

"What do you want, Kirche?" I ask her, trying to find a "safe" place to look.

I guess the wall's safe, right?

"Actually, it's about that sword I bought the other day." she starts.

"No." I quickly say, before she gets the chance to say anything else.

"I don't really have much need for it, and since I can't just give it back to the shop, I thought I'd give it to you." she says, ignoring my refusal.

"That's very kind of you. My answer is still no."

"Come on, won't you just come and talk about it?" she pouts.

"Go with you, in a dark room in the middle of the night? No thanks, I learned my lesson last time." but before I can do anything else, I find myself being forced, yes, forced into her room by a quick pull in her direction.

"I won't let you leave." she states, predatorily.

"You won't have a choice in a few seconds." I growl at her.

"Targets that are the hardest to obtain turn me on the most." she tells me, rubbing her breasts against my back.

"You don't say?"

I know I said this before, but... this isn't happening, right?

"Thankfully, this is just a fictional situation inside a fictional world involving fictional characters in a fictional setting. So no, it's not really happening and it doesn't really matter." a voice which sounds very much like my own says.

"Wait, who said that? No, it doesn't matter. I've got to get out of here... but how can I do that without hurting her?" I think to myself.

My memories flash back to my first night here at the academy. I remember how that, despite my inability to teleport outside of this world, I was still able to bring about my SwiftShadow Wings for flight. This suggests that my magic, while currently limited to this world alone, still works to some degree.

With that said, I've only got one shot at this. If I'm wrong, well... I don't want to be wrong. So, with all this in mind, I decided to at least attempt to teleport back to Louise's dorm, using her as an achor.

I see a bright flash of black and white light surround my body briefly, before disappearing entirely, then reappearing again as I see that the environment around me had managed to change. It worked!

I start to get off of the floor, turning to Louise.

"Lock the door." I tell her.

"What the? How did you..."

"There's no time! Lock the door, now!" I command her. She oblidges, grabbing a key from inside her dresser drawers and locking the door to her room immediately.

"What happened?" she asks, cautiously.

"Kirche happened." I respond.

"But how did you just appear from out of no where? It's like you teleported or something." she asks.

She saw me sprout wings on my back, but the idea of teleportation surprises her? I know I mentioned it before, didn't I?

"Who cares? I'm just glad I got out of there before she tried to... do something to me." I say, sighing.

I should've known that a break would just be asking for too much. I really hate this place... and the author for putting me here.

Will Benjamin ever grow out of his self-loathing on account of these stupid scenes? Will the author ever stop making such painfully awful fourth-wall breaking jokes? Find out on the next exciting episode of... This very same chapter!

* * *

The next morning:

* * *

True to what I said before, it seems that a break really would've been asking for too much. Despite the fact that she was completely at peace with me yesterday, it seems Louise still hasn't quite yet accepted me as... a person.

She informs me that, from now on, due to "my obnoxious behavior", I'll have to wait outside with the rest of the familiars until she finishes her class. When asked about what kind of obnoxious behavior she was referring to, she said she swore she caught me trying to look up some other girl's skirts the last time I was there... a thing which I've never done and will never do.

Seriously... what's with all these ridiculous mood swings? Is it just part of her character? Maybe it's just the time of...

No! Get that out of your head, right now, Ben!

I shake my head dismissively, trying to rid myself of such vulgar thoughts and assumptions.

Not like it all matters too much. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to spark up a conversation with some of the familiars. I'm curious as to how they perceive this whole nonsense.

Speaking of... it looks like I've made a friend, in the form of a giant green snake.

As the serpent begins to eye me closely, I feel a sense of calm coming from the creature, as though it's just decided that I'm to be seen as a friend and not a foe. Upon finishing its "examination", it leans its head farther and farther away, though it never seems to want to take its eyes off of me in the process.

I guess I'm not the only one around here who's curious about how things work.

A few awkward seconds pass, and although the snake still has yet to have taken its eyes off of me, it still hasn't done much else in terms of acknowledging my existence.

Looks like I'll have to be the one to start the conversation.

"Lovely weather we're having." I say nonchalantly, hoping to garner further attention.

A few more seconds pass, and the snake turns its head in different directions as though to confirm that it was who I was talking to. After confirming there were no other humans nearby, it turns to me, and hesitantly states "Indeed... I do so love this hot summer day."

"Why would you respond to the human? Can't you see he can't understand you? Besides, it's not even Summer, it's Spring." somebody says, speaking with a smooth British accent. Or is it Marleybonian? I never can tell anymore.

Looking over to the right, I can see the small beholder-like creature from my second day here as being the source of the new voice.

"You misunderstand, Irisss... the human spoke to me first. I believe this one can understand us."

"Eye don't think so... isn't he the one that Vallière summoned? The one with the jokes? He may have been mocking you."

"I do not believe such is the case... I sense great magic within him. He may be able to hear usss, even now..."

"Eye don't know what you are talking about. Eye don't sense anything all that important, and Eye can see everything!" the Beholder, now dubbed Iris, responds.

I fight the urge to cover myself instinctively following the implications at what that's supposed to mean. Hopefully, it's nothing like it sounded.

"I've an idea... why don't we asssk him ourselvesss?" the snake suggests.

"Yep." I say in confirmation. "I understand both of you."

The beholder blinks (I think?) in response, seemingly surprised by my ability to understand them.

"You... understand us?" it asks, for reassurance.

"Indeed. _I_ see and understand you both." I say, pointing at my eyes for emphasis.

"Fascinating... I've never met a human who could understand our speech. Not even my own massster can pull off such a feat." the snake says, excitedly.

"What an extraordinary spectacle! I must say, to not only see, but also to hear that you can understand us... you truly are a sight for sore eyes."

"So tell us, young Wizard... what is your name?"

Wow, it's been a while since somebody's called me that. In fact, I think the last time it happened might have been back in Khrysalis.

"You can call me Ben. Good to meet you both." I say.

"My name is Opheodrys Gigantormusss... but you may call me Syther." the snake responds. "As for him-"

"Oh, don't remind me." the beholder interrupts, sighing. "My newly-given name is Iris... but as you can see, Eye am clearly a male specimem."

"Can you believe it? Giving such a feminine name to someone as masculine as me? It's like my master is blind!"

"Stop whining... at least your master doesn't quiver in fear of you every time you show your tongue." the snake argues.

"Actually, that's something I wanted to ask about." I tell them. "If you don't mind my asking... what do you think about your masters?"

"They are rather... interesting, to say the least." Syther tells me.

"Interesting? They're imbeciles! Every last one of them, it's like they have the mind of a child!"

That's because they are children.

"But do you resent them? If you had the chance to take it all back, and make it so that you never become their familiar, would you take that chance?" I ask.

"I wouldn't... my master, though unrightfully fearful of me, is also very kind." Syther says.

"And you?"

"Oh, she's no visionnaire, mind you, but I wouldn't part with her for the world!" Iris tells me.

Interesting. So the familiars actually like their masters? Maybe the nobility aren't as bad as I thought. Is it all just Louise then? Wait, he said world.

"That reminds me of something. I know this is kind of a stupid question, but can you tell me the name of this - I mean, our world?" I ask them.

"The name? What do you mean by name? It's just the world, it doesn't need a name." Iris responds.

"Indeed... I do not think even the humans themselves have given it a name, and they like to name everything." Syther remarks.

That... complicates things.

"Why do you ask?" Syther questions.

"No reason." I tell them, standing up.

"It's been fun talking to you both, but I've got some things I need to think about. I'll see you later."

"Yesss... Do come speak with us again. I enjoyed our little chat."

"Ta-ta! Good bye! I hope to see you soon!"

Once Eye was... I mean... once I was out of their lign of sight, I made it a point to pause for a couple of minutes in preperation that someone might try to whisk me away to some other particular destination. Once it seemed clear that no such event was going to occur, I started my way back towards the dorm for some unnecessary brooding.

Unfortunately for me, it seems the Spiral had different plans for me, because as soon as I started on my way back, I could hear the sound of foot steps running quickly towards my direction. I turn around and can quickly recognize the source of the noise coming from Marto.

"Well if it isn't our very own Sword! What a coincidence it is meeting you all the way out here." he says, smiling mischievously.

He calls it coincidence, but I can't shake the feeling that he must've been waiting for this moment.

"Hi Marto, what can I do for you?" I ask politely, though I already have an idea of what he might want.

"If you'd be so kind, we here at the Kitchen Staff would love for you to drop by again some time."

Bingo.

"Sure. Want to go now?" I ask, trying to mask the fact that I skipped breakfast. Again.

The meal they had set out had a striking resemblence to the one which was laid out for me previously in that it was mostly just a collection of bread, not that I'm complaining. I remember them saying beforehand that the best they had available was only left overs.

Still, I am a simple man. A simple man with simple wants and needs. I don't care where it's from, so long as it is edible, hasn't been digested, left out to rot, or spat on, I can eat whatever's set out for me, so the sight of the delicious bread from before was a more than welcoming sight for me.

Still, I felt rather cautious about eating food which was already prepared for different people, so when nobody was looking, I uttered a small spell on the food to detect harmful germs.

I'll have what little time I spent in Moolinda Wu's Life school classes to thank for that.

Luckily there were no such germs to be seen. It's as if the food was just prepared freshly for me.

I guess I'll have Siesta to thank for that as well. Speaking of Siesta...

"Hey, have any of you seen Siesta? I've been meaning to ask her about something that happened last night." I ask, earning a look of surprise from Marto and the rest of the staff.

I don't like where this is headed.

"You mean, she didn't tell you?" Marto asks, vaguely.

"Tell me what?" I ask in return.

I really don't like where this is headed.

"It's just that... with all that's going on, I thought for sure that she would've told _you_ about this." he says.

"Tell me what? Seriously, what are you talking about?" I ask again.

"Siesta's been sold to Count Mott."

"What does that mean? What do you mean by "sold"?"

I really, really don't like where this is headed.

"I mean she's no longer working here. She left to go serve Count Mott just this morning."

It's official. I _hate_ where this was going.

"Tell me more about this 'Count Mott'." I request.

* * *

Back at Louise's dorm:

* * *

"Count Mott is a messenger from the Palace. He drops by the academy from time-to-time, but I don't like him because he's always so cocky." Louise says while brushing her hair.

"That much I already know about from Marto. I need something better than that, like why he'd be interested in purchasing a new maid... by name, no less." I respond. It was then that I could hear some muttering from the back of the room. Looks like Derfingler's got something to say.

"When a high-ranking noble requests for a female employee by name, it usually means he wants her to become his mistress. Wait a minute, shouldn't you know this?"

"See, that's the sort of information I'm talking about. Thank you, Derfin... what?" I ask in disbelief.

"Can you repeat that last part?"

"I said he wants her to become his mistress."

"Mistress... as in, his lover?" I ask.

"Lover, girlfriend, courtesan, it's all the same really." he says.

"No it's not!" I shout angrily.

It takes me a moment to calm down after hearing this news. Siesta, one of the only people in this entire school who doesn't give me a headache, gets taken away just to become the highlight of some wealthy man-child's Saturday night? Hell no I'm letting this happen.

"I'll be going away for a while." I tell Louise.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she asks in disapproval.

"Something stupid." I say, not turning back to look at her.

"Hey Partner... mind if I come with you? It's been a while since I've seen some action." Derfingler requests.

"Sure, but I doubt it'll come down to that sort of thing." I say, picking him up with his sheath and carrying him on my back.

Despite the rush to get outside of the dorm, it ends up taking a few minutes for me to decide on a proper course of action to make. I just couldn't run the risk of trying to think clearly with Louise at my shoulder.

Should I just storm the whole mansion and fill it with undead, and force him to give Siesta back? That could work... or it could terrify her and make her lose trust in me. Should I challenge him to a duel with Derflinger at my side, and have Siesta as the reward for winning? I could... but it would be tacky, not to mention cliché... there's also the possibility that she might get the wrong implications from it.

A number of different overly-complicated plans flooded through my head at once, ranging between blackmail to flat out kidnapping... but no matter what I tried to think up on my own, everything always had a high possibility of backfiring somehow.

I guess this is just another side effect from having to take up all of those different quests from Ambrose and the lot. You spend so long following through to other people's different plans, you're never really put into the position to where you have to think up things on your own. It's made even more difficult when their plans start to make sense, which leaves less room for questioning, and thus, less room for critical thinking.

It was then that I came to the inevitable conclusion that the simplest course of action would be to try to negotiate a peaceful return. As much as I'd love to kick the ass of whoever tried to buy her virginity in the first place, it would probably be much better if everyone came to a "happy" conclusion. I don't want to run the risk of taking Siesta back only for Count Mott to show up at the academy one day looking for revenge.

Shortly thereafter an idea strikes me in the head. If Count Mott is as rich and as powerful as he seems, then there should be only one thing he cares about (aside from his libido), and that's money. After all, when money talks, idiots listen. There's only one problem with this idea... I don't actually know if I can do it. Sure, in most parts of the Spiral I'd be filthy rich... the spoils of an adventurer, I guess you could call it... but here, I might even be broke.

I know from our purchasing Derflinger that these people trade in gold coins, but I never got the chance to take a good look at what was being dealt. I don't know if their coins have any special kinds of markings on them, if their size is any different, or if any of that actually even matters.

I suppose I could ask Derflinger since he's coming with me, but how can I know his information would be reliable? He didn't even know what year it was supposed to be! Who knows what kinds of changes must've occurred before he realized it?

Well, I suppose I could ask...

"Guiche! I'm glad I found you." I say, running up to him in the hallway. He was talking to the blonde girl from before, no doubt trying to make up for cheating on her.

He gasps as soon as he sees me coming and backs to a defensive (if he even calls it that) stance.

"You again? Have you come to get in the way of my romantic life again?" he asks, glaring at me.

So much for becoming new friends.

"What? No, I thought we were... never mind that now, I need to ask you something."

"Really? Then, what is it?" he asks curiously.

"Well, a few things actually. Firstly, do you know how to get to Count Mott's place from here?"

"His mansion is the one closest east from here... but what would a peasant familiar like you want with him?"

"Okay, cool." I say, ignoring his own question.

"I think it's pretty obvious now that I'm not from around here, so I have to ask. Is this considered an acceptable form of currency?" I ask, grabbing hold of a plain gold coin from my pocket and showing it to him.

"Yes, why? Is Louise refusing to buy you something?" he also questions.

"Great! And no, I just needed to ask." I say, walking away, then stopping dead in my tracks seeing as I nearly forgot the real reason I walked up to him to begin with.

"Oh! One more thing... how much for a decent maid around here?"

* * *

Once Derflinger and I made it out of the campus, and were thus out of everyone's field of view, we began to discuss strategy involving getting Siesta back to the school.

"So, what's the plan? We gonna trash the place and demand he give your girlfriend back, or..?"

"She's not my girlfriend..." I said, interrupting him. "And we're not going to trash anything. If all goes well then both Count Mott and I will leave each other happily."

"Are you saying you're going to buy Siesta back? Do you have any idea how much maids cost?" he asked in disbelief.

"Thanks to Guiche, I do. What do you think we were talking about back there?" I asked in return.

"I dunno. I was asleep the whole time." he responds.

"Remind me again why I decided you could come with me." I joked.

* * *

Shortly after our little conversation, we came to a stopping point out in the middle of no where. I looked around the area a bit to make sure nobody was watching, and that we couldn't be seen.

"Hey, what are you doing? We're not there already, are we?" Derflinger asked.

"Of course not, I'm just checking to see if the coast is clear." I told him.

"Coast is clear for what?" he asked.

"For changing my clothes." I answered.

"Clothes? What clothes? All you're carrying is me, pal."

In response to his question, I offered nothing more than a simple smirk. Although I'm against the idea of showing off my magic to everyone, something told me he could be trusted. And really... what could he have said that would bring about misfortune? He's a talking sword for Pete's sake! It's not like anybody was going to believe him if he did spill the beans on my abilities.

Although, now that I think about it, that sort of logic could also be used as a way of strengthening his argument. After all, talking swords themselves are considered to be some what unbelievable as well, aren't they? Well, maybe not from around here, but still...

Nonetheless, I made up my mind and I wasn't about to change it so quickly. I have to be taken seriously in order for this to work, and the only way I can do that is by looking nice. Nice... and rich.

Thankfully, I had just the outfit in mind for such an occasion. A few years ago in my past, I took part in the Policeman's Ball back in Marleybone. It wasn't anything big, at least it wasn't meant to be, until almost the entire police force showed up for the darn thing, invitation or no invitation. Not that I can blame them though. The entire purpose of the thing was to celebrate the newly-found peace across the streets, which was part in thanks to me, as well as the boys in blue.

I'd ended up renting a nice tuxedo for the occasion. Nothing too expensive, but not exactly "cheap" either. It was originally meant to be returned shortly after the ball, but upon learning who I was, the shopkeeper insisted that I keep the tux at no extra cost.

Of course, that was, as I said, years ago. At that time I was only thirteen, turning fourteen years old. I was still several sizes smaller than I am now. Not that that mattered, because, as you know, magic can do a lot of convenient things, such as increase clothing size when needed.

I call forth the tux in the same way that I did my SwiftShadow Wings at my first day here. A flash of light quickly surrounds my body, replacing my current outfit with the tuxedo in question.

What, you were expecting a full-body transformation sequence? What do you think I am, a magical girl?

Amazingly, or not-so-amazingly, it still fit me. Well, that's not entirely accurate... it's more like it actually grew to fit me.

I chuckled internally, thinking of how great of a plot device magic could become in a story.

"So, what do you think?" I asked, the smirk still showing across my face. To my surprise and disappointment, neither my suit nor my magic trick seem to impress Derflinger much, because all he responds to me with is a muffled "Eh."

Maybe the tux isn't enough after all... but then, what could I use to impress Derf - I mean, Mott?

It suddenly dawns on me that walking for an hour on foot back to the campus might not be the most fun idea, especially since I intend to walk back with a maid at my side, and God knows how hard it must be for Siesta to have to walk in those shoes.

An idea quickly comes to mind as I think back at all of the different creatures that I'd seen back at the academy. Many of them were types I'd never seen before, but there were a couple of "familiar" types as well.

One of these creatures in mind is the Dragon, a creature that is often seen as majestic and powerful, and never to be trifled with, which is only natural as they are one of the three Elder Races. If I know my rich snobs, and sadly I do, then a dragon could be just what I need for this situation. Both to get us back at the campus, and to impress Count Mott should he come across it, and, lucky for me, I can choose between two different sets of colors for one as well.

"So, what do you think about dragons?" I ask Derfingler, hoping for a positive response.

"They're alright, I guess. I don't really see what the big deal is though, but you humans like to bring them for just about every occasion. Wars, festivals, orgies..." he states.

Orgies? Did I hear that right? Never mind... that's not important.

"Cool. What color do you think is best, blue or red?" I ask.

"What color is best? I thought we were talking about dragons." he responds.

"We are." I tell him. "I'm asking what color you think Count Mott would like the best."

"How should I know? Do I look like a mind reader to you?" he retorts.

"No, but if you want to go that route, you don't exactly look like a talker either." I spit back.

"Touché."

"So... colors?" I ask, hoping to get back to the subject in hand.

"Well, from what I know about those nobility guys, they seem to really like to dress themselves in red garments... so, red I guess?" he responds.

With that in mind I decide to summon up a Red Darkwing dragon to act as our ride. Putting two fingers in my mouth, I make a whistle-like sound as part of the summon. Immediately after that, the dragon appears under me, and both Derflinger and I are sitting on top of it.

"Whoa, partner! That was one of the fastest summons I've ever seen! Are you some kind of alien or something?" he asks.

"Or something." I tell him, as I telepathically direct which direction the dragon should go to get to Count Mott's. He listens to my commands, and we begin flying on our way to Count Mott's castle.

* * *

On arrival, we were instantly greeted by a small group of guards in armor, demanding to know what I was doing on Count Mott's property. Looks like the dragon spooked them a little, which might decrease some points in my negotiation.

"I've come to see Count Mott himself." I respond calmly. "I have an offer of which he can't refuse."

After a moment's hesitation, the group of spear-wielding guards look at each other, as though they were silently debating whether or not they should let me through. After a small pause, they nod to each other, and decide to allow me to pass.

"We'll let you pass... but be prepared to leave immediately upon order from the Count." they say authoritatively.

"Certainly." I say back to them. "I wouldn't want to offend the dear Count."

Once inside, I'm immediately greeted by another set of spear-wielding guards patrolling the hallway. As soon as they approach me, I tell them that I'm here to speak with the Count, and that I've been allowed access inside the manor. They agree to let me pass, so long as the Count accepts this visit.

This is going down much more easily than I expected. I just hope that convincing Count Mott will be just as easy as convincing the guards.

As soon as I'm at the entrance of the room that Count Mott was said to be residing in, I take a moment's pause before opening up the door. Barging in unannounced to him may hinder the negotiation a bit.

"Excuse me sir, I hate to be rude, but could you please tell the Count about my visit? I'd hate to be interrupting something." I ask them.

This was a risky gamble. After all, there _is_ a possibility that the Count would refuse me instantly and they'd try to force me to leave... but in order for me to keep the illusion that I'm a sophisticated whatever-you-decide-to-call it, I need to be as polite and respectful as possible.

The guard nods in approval, and, upon agreement, knocks on the door quietly.

"Sir, I hate to bother you, but you have a visitor. There's someone named... what's your name again?" the guard asks, turning to my direction.

"Strange... Stephen Strange. May I come in?" I lie, asking as politely as possible.

"I don't receive many visitors." I hear from inside the door. "Let him inside, but this better be worth my time."

Roger. Operation Save Siesta From the Evil Clutches of a Perverted Count is a go. I think to myself. Now that I think about it though, I probably could've come up with a better name than that. Whatever... I don't have the time for that right now.

Once Count Mott agrees to see me, the guard opens the door to the room, silently gesturing me inside. I thank him and enter without hesitation.

"Good day to you, Count Mott." I say upon entering. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Don't waste my time, Mister Strange. Just tell me why you're here." he says rudely, though that's not to be unexpected. Knowing him, I probably interrupted his "me time".

"Actually, good sir... I'm a Doctor. Here's my card." I say, handing him a fake identity document with the words "Doctor Stephen Strange - Supreme Master of Medicine" on it. Count Mott takes a stern look at the card and hands it back over to me.

"Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?" he says quizzically, to which I respond stating "Yes, yes I am." I smile to myself at the subtle reference I'd just made.

"...But that's beside the point. You see, Mr. Mott..." I say, subtly giving him a taste of his own medicine.

"Count." he interrupts.

"Apologies... Mr. Count. It seems that a certain patient of mine has recently gone under your care. One named Siesta?" I ask rhetorically. I can clearly see a look of annoyance from that last remark, but I pretend not to notice, and he quickly reverts back to a more neutral appearance.

"Yes, that's right," he says, nodding. "but what's it matter to you?"

"I'm afraid she is unfit for service." I say, matter-of-factly "You see, Ms. Siesta is simply riddled with various mental illnesses. A.D.D, dyslexia, lycanthropy, among others. I'm sure you've seen the signs of some, yes? They include symptoms such as extreme shyness and discomfort around others." I say to him.

Of course, in reality these illnesses are nothing like what I described, but I had to come up with something, didn't I? It's not like this primitive world's medical science (or magic, whichever) would ever have well-known terms for this sort of thing just yet, right?

At least, I hope I'm right... because if not, well, this charade is pretty much done for.

"I've never heard of those illnesses, but I have noticed that her behavior matches that which you've described." he says, putting his palm around his chin to emphasize thought.

Of course you would. With a girl like Siesta, that sort of interaction is just to be expected.

"But if she's really unfit for work, then how was she able to get a job at the academy?"

"It was an experiment." I say in response.

"I believed at the time that she might be able to get over her shyness, or at least learn to cope with it, by working at an environment in which she'd be forced to interact with lots of people, so I pulled some strings. Things were going well, all things considered... but I'm afraid that the sudden change of environment might have an ill effect on her." I tell him.

The Count looks over me cautiously before continuing on with the conversation.

"That's a rather nice looking suit you've got there, Doctor Strange. I don't see many like it." he says snidely. I pretend not to notice.

"Why, thank you. I bought it myself. I've heard it was the latest fashion among the Germanians." I say to him in response.

There's a small pause as Count Mott contemplates what to say to me next. No doubt he's suspicious... but I've come too far to back down now.

"It looks rather expensive. You've no doubt earned a lot of money between your different treatments, but tell me, how was Siesta, a mere peasant, capable of affording someone with your status as a doctor?" he asks, laying out a trap to catch me in. Fortunately for me, I was already prepared for such a thing.

"I work for charity, good sir." I say, with a tone of mock-offense hidden within my voice. "Noble or otherwise, everybody deserves to receive the proper medical treatment they need. The money I earn is obtained via donations rather than cost."

"That's very commendable." he says in response. "Not many doctors share that sort of view point... but you still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

"I've come to ask that you release Siesta back into my care..." I say, reaching into my bag. It didn't take long for him to give a response.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" he shouts angrily. "I paid a lot of money to recruit Siesta under my services. You're not taking her!"

"Calm down, you didn't let me finish." I tell him. "I don't mean to simply take her from you. I want to buy her off you. In my pouch, I have..." but before I can finish my sentence, I can hear a soft knock from the door I entered from, and a guard speaking in a mumbled voice.

"Sir, you have another visitor. She says she's from the academy."

Who's 'she'? Oh no. Tell me this isn't going where I think it's going...

And... it is!

Less than a second after the guard finishes his sentence, the door slams open only to have Louise rushing in, looking angry as ever.

"Count Mott, I must beg your forgiveness! My familiar is still learning, he doesn't understand how rude he must've been." she pleads.

"Familiar?" he repeats, bewildered. "I've never heard of a familiar becoming a doctor before."

"He's not a doctor! He's just my familiar... and he came to you without permission."

"op-Stay alling-cay e-may a-way familiar, ou-yay aka-bay." I grumble.

As if I expect her to understand that.

How did she even know I was here? That moron Guiche must have told her. Whatever. I already had a back up plan for this in case things went South anyway... a plan which should be starting right about...

"AAAAH!" somebody shouts from across the hall, and shortly afterward comes running in through the door with more guards, all of which have looks of dread in their eyes.

"Guards! What are you doing here, what's happening?"

"M-M-Monsters! Monsters all throughout the manor... Lord Mott, we must flee!" one of them shouts... right before being pulled and tripped by a Dark Sprite, who giggles and flies all around the room in a mock-frenzy, tugging and pulling at different objects and people. Various looks of confusion, anger and fear had been written across everyone's faces as they were being harassed by my little friend.

There were at least ten different ways I could've reworded that.

"What is that thing?" Count Mott asks amidst the chaos.

"A bad omen, I'm afraid..." I tell him, trying to sound as deadly serious as I possibly could. As soon as I say that, the Sprite flies out of the room, never to be seen or heard by them again.

"That's not the worst of our problems. Lord Mott, there are zombies outside!" one of the guards says.

"Zombies?!" he asks in disbelief, as he runs through the hallway to confirm what was said.

Sure enough, there they were, right on schedule, the "zombies" I had summoned had arrived right on time. Well, technically they're ghouls... but there's no point in correcting them now.

Count Mott and Louise look on in horror at the site of the undead I had summoned, who were each using their spades to dig up large holes in the ground, and then Count Mott immediately shuts and lock the doors to the entrance, hoping to barricade himself and everyone else inside.

"Tch... I'm too late." I pretend to mumble, when really I was hoping to be heard by someone.

"Too late? To late for what?!" Louise asks, flabbergasted.

What a weird word, flabbergasted.

I ignore her question and turn to Count Mott, doing my best to look as serious as possible.

"Count Mott, I'm afraid I lied to you. I'm not the doctor that you think I am." I say to him.

"You're not? Then who are you? Did you have something to do with this?!" he asks, grabbing me by the shirt.

"My name is John Constantine. I'm an exorcist, a ghost hunter, kind of." I respond with half-truths.

"A ghost hunter? You mean you knew they'd be here?!" he asks fearfully and angrily.

"Sadly, yes. That's why I'm here, you see. Those zombies... they're after Siesta." I tell them.

"What?!" everyone responds, though none of their shocked faces could even compare to the look of bewilderment that crossed over Louise.

"Get Siesta down here now!" Count Mott orders the guards. They do as he says and shortly afterwards come back with Siesta at their side... though they were acting a bit more forceful for my liking.

"I thought I hired a maid, not some kind of... ghost caller!" he shouts angrily, earning a look of fear on Siesta. That look dissipates as soon as she sees me and Louise both in the same room.

"Ben? What are you doing here?" she asks excitedly.

"He's here to rid us of these ghosts... and of you!" Count Mott says, pushing her over to me.

"He is?" she asks, surprised by the statement.

"Yes, well, that was the plan." I say matter-of-factly.

"Take her, and get her and the rest of those monsters out of here!" he barks.

"Not so fast." I say, putting my hand in front of him.

"If you want her gone, you have to terminate her contract. Officially. It's just a formality of course, but it's the way I have to do things." I tell him.

"Fine, fine! I'll be right back." he says, walking across the hall. He comes back just a few minutes later with her contract in hand, and then rips it all off to pieces.

"Perfect! Now, if you'll just sign her over to me, we'll be done here." I say, handing him my own "legally bound" contract.

Count Mott grunts in response to this, but nods in agreement. He takes a feathered pen out from one of his pockets, and signs his name on the contract, which states:

 **"I, Count Mott, hereby agree to sell my recently-purchased maid, back over to the Tristain Academy of Magic, so she might serve under her new employer by the name of John Constantine, and he may deal with her in however manner he sees fit."**

"Perfect! Now, I believe we are done here. A pleasure doing business with you." I say, taking Siesta by the hand and racing her out the door.

Before we make it all the way outside though, I hear the sound of yawning from behind me, coming from Derflinger, who must've been sleeping through this entire thing. I wondered why things were so quiet around here.

"So, how are things going with the plan? You know, to trick Count Mott into giving you Siesta back?" he asks nonchalantly.

I pull him up to the front of my face, giving him an angry glare... a glare that says "You've said way too much, you damned idiot."

"Whoops, hehe... I said too much, didn't I?"

"A plan? So you were behind this whole mess?! I want my maid back!" he shouts angrily.

"Sorry, all transactions are final. If you have a problem, please speak to my assistant Frankie outside." I say, taking Siesta by the hand and rushing us out the door.

"Come on Louise, we don't want to be late." I say.

"Late for what?" she asks.

"For the show." I tell her.

* * *

As the three of us make our way outside, we can clearly see that the undead infestation had since been long gone. Well... all except for one giant monster, in the form of Doctor Von's Monster, who was standing near the doorway by my instruction.

Poor Mott must have been so consumed with anger over my tricking him that he failed to see where he was running, because as soon as he made it past the door, he immediately bumped into Frankie, landing on his buttocks.

He looks up at Frankie and immediately shouts out of fear of the ten foot behemoth. Which, in turn, causes Frankie to retaliate with his own confused shout, which again causes Mott to shout some more, until he passes out on the ground due to the overwhelming sensation of fear.

A small squad of guards come out to act as reinforcements for Count Mott, but quickly scatter as well upon seeing Frankie.

The look on their faces was so surprising that I couldn't help but to burst out in laughter at the whole ordeal, slowly recollecting myself as we head back to the dragon which I had summoned for a ride.

* * *

The ride back to the academy started with us all sitting in silence, trying to read each other's thoughts. No doubt this must've all been a really crazy night for the two of them, so I decided not to say anything out of worry that I'd get the wrong type of reaction. After a few more minutes of silence, Siesta turns to me and says thank you for "rescuing" her.

"I mean it. There's no telling what he could've done to me if I stayed with that man." she says, voicing her gratitude even further.

I nod in response to her, not really knowing what I should say, or if I should say anything... especially with Louise still with us.

Once we arrive closer back to the academy, I say good-night to Siesta, telling her to get some rest so she might feel better tomorrow, because I was planning on putting her to some good work by then.

Of course, that was a lie. That contract may have signed her back over to the academy, but there's no such person as John Constantine in this world, so for all intents and purposes, it's not even worth the paper it's signed on.

After Siesta leaves, Louise and I look at each other back in silence, both of us clearly trying to come up with the right thing to say to the other. I still wasn't sure how she would react to the sudden appearance of undead because of me, so I decided I wanted her to speak to me first.

"Is what Derflinger said true? Was all of that really part of your plan?"

"Yes." I say to her cautiously.

"And the zombies?" she asks again.

"They were ghouls... but, yes." I correct her.

A few more seconds of awkward silence pass over us, and this time I decided that it should be me who speaks up first.

"Are you afraid of me?" I ask her, with even more caution than before.

"Should I be?" she asks, defensively.

"No..." I quickly tell her. "Not unless you're dangerous or evil, and, after getting to know you some, I don't think you're either."

Her look of hostility dies down a little after I say that.

"Although you are a bit of a bitch." I mutter to myself, teasingly.

"What was that?" she says angrily.

"Nothing, nothing."

Time seems to slow down some more as the two of us stare at each other some more... and, following the same pattern as before, Louise is the first to speak up this time.

"What you did was dangerous. Count Mott will be back for her."

"No he won't." I say matter-of-factly. "What's he going to do, tell everyone that a bunch of ghosts came after Siesta and forced him to give her back to the academy? Is it common for ghosts and ghouls to show up here?"

"No, but what if he _does_ report it to the palace? What then?" she asks.

"Then we won't have to worry. People tend to believe only in what they see, not what they heard. If he tries to tell people that some eighteen year old randomly showed up and brought a bunch of undead with him, he'll make the Boy Who Cried Wolf look like Abraham Lincoln." I say to her, with full knowledge that my idiom will go without understanding.

"You're eighteen?" she asks, changing the subject.

"Yeah, isn't it obvious? I'd thought the beard would've given it away." I say, rubbing my facial hair with mock-pride.

"So, how old are you then?" I ask in response.

"I'm sixteen." she tells me.

"Sixteen?! Seriously? At most I thought you'd be..." I say, interrupting myself.

I probably shouldn't finish that sentence.

"What? You thought I'd be what?" she asks. Despite the fact that it was night time, I could still clearly see the visible signs of rage and anger written across her face.

"Nothing! Nothing..." I say, putting my hands up in a defensive stance.

"Things have been pretty weird for all of us, haven't they?" I say matter-of-factly. "What do you say we just head back to the dorm and try to put this whole mess behind us?"

She sighs in response to my suggestion, but agrees with it regardless, and the rest of the night goes by rather peacefully. And the best part? I didn't have to spend an ounce of gold, so that's always nice.

I can only imagine what sort of crazy adventure tomorrow must have in store from me. I just hope it's not as crazy and stupid as today's adventure.

* * *

 **Here we are then, at the end of the chapter. What can I say? I tried my best to make it as interesting as possible... though I may want to revamp it a little later on, I don't know. For those who don't know already, I decided to incorporate some game mechanics into the mix and add it to his list of magical abilities, such as the summoning of mounts and teleportation. That's also why he was capable of speaking with the familiars. It's never explained inside Wizard101 as to why, but for some reason it seems like the player character is capable of understanding just about any language. That, or everyone just decides to speak English. The next chapter will feature what was going through his head when he made the plan to use the undead as well as some of how he was able to do it.**


End file.
